Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Earns Hold Rating from Needham & Company LLC

Needham & Company LLC reiterated their hold rating on shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) in a research note published on Friday,Benzinga reports.

A number of other research analysts also recently issued reports on FTNT. Piper Sandler upgraded Fortinet from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the stock from $100.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday, January 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 8th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $101.43.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $107.66 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.34. Fortinet has a 52 week low of $54.57 and a 52 week high of $110.53. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $97.38 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $84.56. The company has a market capitalization of $82.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.01.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 26.79% and a return on equity of 973.30%. On average, analysts expect that Fortinet will post 1.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 4,250 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $386,027.50. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at approximately $425,901.87. This trade represents a 47.54 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom acquired 355 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $98.50 per share, with a total value of $34,967.50. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,799,132.50. This trade represents a 0.24 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 67,860 shares of company stock valued at $6,469,056. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fortinet in the third quarter valued at about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 73.3% during the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 173 shares in the last quarter. City State Bank boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 900.0% in the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 500 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $46,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.