Mizuho Trims Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Target Price to $66.00

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its price target cut by Mizuho from $70.00 to $66.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on the company. Daiwa Capital Markets raised Fortinet from a neutral rating to an outperform rating and set a $75.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Tuesday, February 13th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $60.00 to $85.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a neutral rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $77.00 to $81.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $70.68.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded down $6.32 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $58.88. The stock had a trading volume of 15,896,615 shares, compared to its average volume of 4,338,557. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $44.12 and a fifty-two week high of $81.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a current ratio of 1.19 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $67.53 and its 200-day simple moving average is $61.90. The firm has a market cap of $44.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.48, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.08.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 5,061.85%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.29 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 1.39 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total transaction of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $700,705,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total value of $1,691,751.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,471,825,357. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock valued at $8,021,556. Insiders own 17.54% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 22.4% in the 1st quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 984 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 180 shares during the period. Buckhead Capital Management LLC raised its position in Fortinet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 30,134 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. STF Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. STF Management LP now owns 12,917 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $756,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 1.6% in the third quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 12,743 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $748,000 after buying an additional 197 shares during the period. Finally, Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. now owns 20,696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Company 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.