Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Trading Down 4.3% – Here’s Why

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) shares dropped 4.3% during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $157.07 and last traded at $154.8350. Approximately 315,807 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 6,173,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.85.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on FTNT. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $215.00 target price (up from $160.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, July 13th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $135.00 price target on Fortinet and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities boosted their price target on Fortinet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

Fortinet Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $112.89 billion, a PE ratio of 54.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $158.47 and its 200-day moving average is $121.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.64 EPS. Fortinet’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total transaction of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 161,482 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was a 0.30% 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. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 15,545.1% during the 2nd quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,097,777 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $22,289,921,000 after acquiring an additional 144,170,346 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth about $9,561,650,000. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Fortinet by 1.6% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 477,397 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth about $1,152,917,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Fortinet by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,151,810,000 after buying an additional 893,190 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About Fortinet

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.