Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd Increases Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd raised its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 3.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 234,135 shares of the software maker’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,711 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui DS Asset Management Company Ltd’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $19,686,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. LSV Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. bought a new position in Fortinet in the third quarter valued at $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in Fortinet by 1,556.5% during the third quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 381 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after purchasing an additional 358 shares in the last quarter. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in Fortinet by 41.4% during the second quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 355 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,485 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total transaction of $13,710,537.35. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,445,911,452.29. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,546 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.53, for a total value of $306,835.38. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,492,018 shares in the company, valued at $907,874,317.54. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Corporate insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Rosenblatt Securities reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup lowered Fortinet from a “neutral” rating to a “mixed” rating in a research note on Monday, October 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Robert W. Baird lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twenty-seven have given a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.30.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $79.22 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a current ratio of 1.03. Fortinet, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $70.12 and a fifty-two week high of $114.82. The firm has a market cap of $58.91 billion, a PE ratio of 32.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.73 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $81.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $86.36.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.58% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.63 EPS. Fortinet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.660-2.700 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.730-0.750 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Fortinet 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.