Investors Purchase High Volume of Fortinet Put Options (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) was the target of some unusual options trading on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 53,374 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 324% compared to the average volume of 12,598 put options.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT traded down $0.57 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $81.15. The company had a trading volume of 5,254,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,819,100. Fortinet has a 12 month low of $70.12 and a 12 month high of $109.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.17. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.04 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $81.60 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.93.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 124.21% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.590-0.630 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.940-3.000 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $90.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 6th. Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $70.00 target price (up from $66.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.84.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $27,935,690.52. Following the sale, the vice president owned 10,210,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $831,321,160.44. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $14,308,506.54. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.