Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Acquired by BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. grew its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 6.8% during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,305,352 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 82,937 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $137,800,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the first quarter worth $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Fortinet by 2,184.6% during the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 284 shares in the last quarter. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter worth $36,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter worth $36,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Price Performance

FTNT stock opened at $85.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $114.82. The firm has a market cap of $65.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.17 and a beta of 1.09. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.91 and a 200-day simple moving average of $93.33.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.The business had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,546 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.53, for a total value of $306,835.38. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 10,492,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $907,874,317.54. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total value of $13,710,537.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,445,911,452.29. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Wall Street Zen lowered Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 9th. Scotiabank dropped their price target on Fortinet from $115.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $87.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Cowen lowered Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have given a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $97.03.

Fortinet Company 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.