Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Downgraded by Zacks Research to Hold

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research note published on Monday,Zacks reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the company. Wedbush reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $140.00 target price (down from $155.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Wolfe Research set a $175.00 price target on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on Fortinet from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and six have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $147.94.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $128.11 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $170.32 and a 200 day moving average price of $128.78. The firm has a market cap of $94.12 billion, a PE ratio of 41.59, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.04. The company has a current ratio of 1.40, a quick ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $197.13.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 152.72% and a net margin of 28.96%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.74 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 3.20 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.49, for a total transaction of $404,138.29. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,328,436.40. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $16,045,529.28. The trade was a 35.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 221,304 shares of company stock worth $30,675,309 over the last ninety days. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Burk Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the second quarter worth $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC grew its holdings in Fortinet by 102.5% during the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. NFSG Corp purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, Timbuktu Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet reported quarterly revenue and earnings above consensus and raised its 2026 outlook. Product sales reportedly grew 37%, and longer-term cybersecurity demand tied to AI remains a potential tailwind. Fortinet sinks despite beating and raising guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Ken Xie and VP Michael Xie sold shares through pre-arranged 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding on vested awards. The sales were small relative to their remaining holdings, making them a limited signal about the company’s prospects. Fortinet VP share sale
• Negative Sentiment: Despite the earnings beat, investors have reportedly been unsettled by slower-than-expected product growth and a weaker service outlook. Fortinet’s recent steep selloff has also coincided with broader weakness in technology and cybersecurity stocks, adding pressure to FTNT. Fortinet earnings analysis and service outlook Why Fortinet stock is falling

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.