Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Given New $70.00 Price Target at BMO Capital Markets

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its price target lowered by BMO Capital Markets from $82.00 to $70.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a market perform rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Needham & Company LLC restated a hold rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, January 18th. They set a market perform rating and a $65.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Fortinet from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a neutral rating for the company in a report on Friday. Finally, Truist Financial decreased their price objective on Fortinet from $80.00 to $70.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have assigned a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $70.68.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT traded down $6.32 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $58.88. 15,896,615 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 4,338,557. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $67.53 and a 200 day moving average of $61.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.08. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $44.12 and a 1 year high of $81.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 1.19.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.34 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 5,061.85%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.29 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock valued at $8,021,556. 17.54% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 135.6% in the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 377 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after acquiring an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About Fortinet

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.