Zhang Financial LLC Grows Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Zhang Financial LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 5.3% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 8,878 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 447 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $688,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Occidental Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $222,000. Kathleen S. Wright Associates Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at $65,000. Novare Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at $202,000. Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth $46,000. Finally, Willis Investment Counsel lifted its position in Fortinet by 0.9% during the 3rd quarter. Willis Investment Counsel now owns 127,087 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $9,856,000 after acquiring an additional 1,139 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,538 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, September 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total value of $1,763,937.72. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,878,806 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,662,977,721.64. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were 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 represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 71,943 shares of company stock valued at $4,881,539 in the last three months. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $82.64 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $63.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.00. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.12 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $76.06 and a 200-day simple moving average of $66.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released 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. Fortinet had a net margin of 23.71% and a negative return on equity of 2,160.10%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.31 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on FTNT shares. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Fortinet from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Piper Sandler raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $72.64.

Fortinet 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.