Austin Private Wealth LLC Raises Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Austin Private Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 21.3% during the second quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,100 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 721 shares during the quarter. Austin Private Wealth LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Saudi Central Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $28,000. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the 1st 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 during the period. Wayfinding Financial LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Finally, Mechanics Financial Corp acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth about $36,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,730,560 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This represents a 4.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $85.87 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $82.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $93.76. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.12 and a 12 month high of $114.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $65.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a current ratio of 1.33 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 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 analysts’ expectations of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.57 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on FTNT. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. UBS Group reduced their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $90.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, August 7th. DZ Bank raised Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and set a $67.00 target price (down previously from $78.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, September 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.03.

Fortinet 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.