Zacks Research Upgrades Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) to “Strong-Buy”

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was upgraded by analysts at Zacks Research from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other brokerages have also weighed in on FTNT. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays set a $115.00 price objective on Fortinet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Evercore set a $80.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Freedom Capital downgraded shares of Fortinet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $100.45.

Fortinet Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $122.78 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $89.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.41, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.92. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $87.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $83.37. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. Fortinet has a twelve month low of $70.12 and a twelve month high of $123.33.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 160.08% and a net margin of 27.49%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.58 earnings per share. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.77 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total value of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,927,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $882,456,986.13. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,978,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,709,744,555.60. The trade was a 0.01% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 3.0% in the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $309,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $398,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc lifted its stake in Fortinet by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 31.4% in the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Fortinet as one of several security stocks benefiting from surging demand for cybersecurity solutions as companies accelerate digital transformation and cloud migration. 4 Security Stocks to Focus on From a Flourishing Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Fortinet to $2.76 from $2.62, which can support investor confidence in earnings power even though the firm kept a Sector Perform rating and a $110 target.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market write-ups pointed to Fortinet’s strong Q1 beat, AI-driven demand, and institutional buying as reasons the stock has maintained strong momentum after earnings. Fortinet Stock’s Momentum Score Skyrockets As AI-Driven Q1 Beat Ignites Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank also trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate to $2.95 from $3.02, which is a mild headwind but not enough to offset the more upbeat near-term outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet was mentioned in broader cybersecurity and market commentary alongside peers such as CrowdStrike and Okta, reinforcing sector strength rather than providing company-specific news.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc (NASDAQ: FTNT) is a multinational cybersecurity company that develops and delivers integrated security solutions for enterprise, service provider and government customers worldwide. Founded in 2000 and headquartered in Sunnyvale, California, the company was co?founded by Ken Xie and Michael Xie. Ken Xie serves as chairman and chief executive officer, and the company operates through a global sales, channel and services organization to support customers across the Americas, EMEA and Asia?Pacific.

Fortinet’s product portfolio centers on network security appliances and software, with its FortiGate next?generation firewalls and the FortiOS operating system forming a core platform.