Lazard Asset Management LLC Cuts Stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Lazard Asset Management LLC lessened its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 4.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 318,578 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 16,022 shares during the quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $21,761,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $203,501,000. Sarasin & Partners LLP purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter worth $120,746,000. Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortinet by 102.5% during the 1st quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 3,284,203 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $224,344,000 after buying an additional 1,662,156 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Fortinet by 223.6% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 1,366,467 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $79,979,000 after buying an additional 944,161 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Fortinet by 1.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,052,487 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,648,665,000 after acquiring an additional 779,271 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Fortinet Stock Down 0.5 %

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $56.70 on Monday. Fortinet, Inc. has a twelve month low of $44.12 and a twelve month high of $78.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $43.32 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $59.57 and its 200-day moving average price is $63.86.

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 2,235.48%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 18,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total transaction of $1,116,075.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,663 shares in the company, valued at approximately $278,287.84. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Keith Jensen sold 18,701 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $59.68, for a total value of $1,116,075.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,663 shares in the company, valued at $278,287.84. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 91,913 shares of company stock worth $5,608,349 over the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Fortinet from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, May 3rd. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Finally, TD Cowen raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and eleven have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $69.90.

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.