Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Sold by Louisiana State Employees Retirement System

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System trimmed its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 94,000 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,600 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $7,290,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Winthrop Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc raised its stake in Fortinet by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 627 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after purchasing an additional 238 shares during the period. Finally, City State Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 900.0% in the third 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. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on shares of Fortinet from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. TD Cowen upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 9th. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $73.25.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total transaction of $1,731,010.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,842,522 shares in the company, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the transaction, 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,250 shares of company stock worth $6,790,149 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Trading Down 0.3 %

Fortinet stock opened at $80.34 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.64 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.06. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.12 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.37 billion, a PE ratio of 52.51, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.31 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current year.

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.