Daiwa Securities Group Inc. Has $9.58 Million Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 28.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 163,676 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 36,024 shares during the quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $9,580,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Covestor Ltd lifted its stake in Fortinet by 53.3% in the first quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $56,000 after buying an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. boosted its stake in Fortinet by 20.4% in the 1st quarter. Zions Bancorporation N.A. now owns 430 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $147,000 after purchasing an additional 73 shares during the period. Atwood & Palmer Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Headinvest LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Quarry LP raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 686.6% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 527 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 460 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 1.0 %

Fortinet stock opened at $64.03 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $48.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.87 and a beta of 1.08. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $44.12 and a 12-month high of $81.24. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $68.64 and a 200 day moving average of $61.52. The company has a current ratio of 1.19, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.43 by $0.08. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 7,572.46% and a net margin of 21.64%. The business had revenue of $1.42 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.41 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.38 EPS. Fortinet’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have commented on FTNT shares. Truist Financial boosted their target price on Fortinet from $60.00 to $80.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. StockNews.com cut Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, January 18th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $65.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $75.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and eleven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $72.19.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 46,084 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $69.07, for a total transaction of $3,183,021.88. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 51,813,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,578,767,976.66. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 38,369 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $66.45, for a total transaction of $2,549,620.05. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 29,887,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,985,992,346.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 46,084 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $69.07, for a total transaction of $3,183,021.88. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 51,813,638 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,578,767,976.66. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 132,139 shares of company stock valued at $8,977,876 over the last quarter. 17.54% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.