Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Price Target Raised to $140.00

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its price objective raised by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $118.00 to $140.00 in a research note issued to investors on Friday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have an underweight rating on the software maker’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $186.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, October 15th. Yorkville Ives began coverage on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, October 6th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $225.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Fortinet from $165.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 target price on Fortinet and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $162.36.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $179.99 on Friday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $170.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.53. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market cap of $132.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 63.38, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $197.13.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortinet will post 3.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total value of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,045,529.28. This represents a 35.71% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm’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 directly owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,561,650,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,432,842,000. Legal & General Group Plc bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $979,062,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $940,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $788,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500,194 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Jefferies expects Fortinet’s third-quarter product revenue growth to reach roughly 50% year over year, well above the 31% consensus forecast. The broker cited favorable industry checks, price increases and accelerated firewall replacement activity. Fortinet growth outlook for 2027 becomes key test for investors, says Jefferies
• Positive Sentiment: Investors are looking for another strong quarterly result, with analysts expecting double-digit year-over-year EPS growth. Fortinet’s ability to sustain product growth into fiscal 2027 will be the central focus of the earnings outlook. What to Expect From Fortinet’s Next Quarterly Earnings Report
• Positive Sentiment: Recent bullish positioning, including a previously raised $200 price target, reflects expectations for continued cybersecurity spending and AI-related demand. Fortinet’s hardware-software combination was also highlighted as a potential long-term competitive advantage. Fortinet versus Cisco and Palo Alto Networks
• Neutral Sentiment: Jefferies maintained a “hold” rating, emphasizing that forward guidance for 2027 matters more than simply beating near-term estimates. Fortinet trades at a premium valuation, increasing the importance of durable growth and strong cash generation.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet released coordinated security-hardening updates for multiple products, which may have improved sentiment amid broader cybersecurity concerns, although the updates are not a major direct earnings catalyst.
• Negative Sentiment: JPMorgan raised its price target from $118 to $140 but retained an “underweight” rating, implying substantial downside from recent trading levels. JPMorgan Fortinet rating
• Negative Sentiment: Arete Research reportedly downgraded Fortinet to “sell,” adding to concerns that the stock’s elevated valuation already discounts much of its expected growth.
• Negative Sentiment: Reported insider activity shows executives made no open-market purchases and sold shares during the past six months, a potentially cautionary signal, though such sales may reflect scheduled diversification.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments and operational technology systems. The company’s portfolio includes next-generation firewalls, secure networking products, endpoint security, web application security, email security, identity and access solutions, and security information and event management tools.

Its product offerings include FortiGate network security appliances and cloud-based firewalls, along with FortiSwitch, FortiAP and FortiExtender solutions for secure connectivity.