StockNews.com Upgrades Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) to Buy

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was upgraded by equities researchers at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report issued on Friday.

Several other brokerages have also issued reports on FTNT. Sanford C. Bernstein started coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating and a $65.00 target price for the company. Susquehanna reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $81.00 to $73.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Fortinet from $67.00 to $63.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday. Finally, Citigroup downgraded Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and boosted their target price for the stock from $60.00 to $62.00 in a report on Tuesday, January 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $70.68.

Fortinet Stock Down 9.7 %

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $58.88 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 1.08. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $44.12 and a 1 year high of $81.24. The business’s 50-day moving average is $67.53 and its 200 day moving average is $61.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 5,061.85%. The business had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.29 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 1.4 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $1,593,300.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total transaction of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock worth $8,021,556. Company insiders own 17.54% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. increased its position in Fortinet by 220.2% in the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 34,378 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,348,000 after purchasing an additional 23,643 shares during the last quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Valley Wealth Managers Inc. now owns 5,589 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $382,000 after acquiring an additional 871 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 42.0% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 15,084 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,030,000 after acquiring an additional 4,461 shares in the last quarter. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $14,847,000. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $569,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.