Short Interest in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Drops By 10.5%

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,990,000 shares, a decrease of 10.5% from the September 15th total of 14,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 5,130,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Fortinet stock traded down $1.26 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $80.86. 4,092,451 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,542,836. The company has a current ratio of 1.32, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $76.55 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $66.57. The firm has a market cap of $61.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.85, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.00. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $44.12 and a fifty-two week high of $83.77.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 23.71% and a negative return on equity of 2,160.10%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total transaction of $1,731,010.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,842,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total value of $1,731,010.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,842,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 95,250 shares of company stock worth $6,790,149. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Trust Point Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $220,000. M3 Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet in the third quarter worth approximately $213,000. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth $162,000. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd now owns 240,059 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $18,617,000 after buying an additional 3,517 shares during the period. Finally, TruWealth Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 6.0% during the 3rd quarter. TruWealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,573 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $665,000 after buying an additional 487 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on FTNT. TD Cowen increased their target price on Fortinet from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 9th. Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. HSBC raised Fortinet from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $59.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Fortinet from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price objective on Fortinet from $69.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.71.

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.