Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Raised to ‘Hold’ by Hsbc Global Res

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get a Free Report) was upgraded by analysts at Hsbc Global Res from a “moderate sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, Zacks.com reports.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on FTNT. Rosenblatt Securities decreased their price target on Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen raised Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 price target for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 18th. Barclays decreased their price target on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, July 11th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho cut their price target on Fortinet from $70.00 to $66.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Twenty-four investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the stock. The company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $71.31, according to MarketBeat.com.

Read our latest research report on FTNT

Fortinet stock performance

FTNT opened at $68.68 on Wednesday. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $44.12 and a fifty-two week high of $73.91. The company has a market cap of $52.47 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.98. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $59.38 and a 200 day moving average of $63.70.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Your Free Report ) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,235.48% and a net margin of 22.23%. The company’s revenue increased by 10.9% year-on-year. In the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Trading at Fortinet

In related news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.55 per share, with a total value of $34,896.30. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 295,778 shares in the company, valued at $17,613,579.90. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available on the SEC’s website. In other Fortinet news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 18,701 shares of the company’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 value of $1,116,075.68. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,663 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $278,287.84. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available via this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom purchased 586 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $59.55 per share, for a total transaction of $34,896.30. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now owns 295,778 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,613,579.90. Disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 91,915 shares of company stock worth $5,401,638. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s shares.

Hedge funds hurt Fortinet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Fortinet by 1.2% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 68,052,487 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,648,665,000 after buying an additional 779,271 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in Fortinet by 664.8% in the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 35,137,089 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,400,215,000 after purchasing an additional 30,542,551 shares during the period. Swedbank AB raised its stake in Fortinet by 1.7% in the second quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 8,156,797 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $491,610,000 after purchasing an additional 134,366 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp raised its stake in Fortinet by 94.9% in the second quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 5,755,599 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $346,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,802,446 shares during the period. Finally, Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. raised its stake in Fortinet by 7.6% in the first quarter. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. now owns 3,996,822 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $273,023,000 after buying an additional 283,339 shares during the period. 83.71% of the shares are owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Company Profile

(Get a free report)

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of network and security solutions worldwide. Provides secure network solutions focused on network and security convergence; network firewall solutions consisting 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 LAN access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways and other products.

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