Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) VP Michael Xie Sells 3,121 Shares of Company Stock

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.49, for a total value of $404,138.29. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,284,328,436.40. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 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.

Fortinet Stock Up 1.5%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $128.11 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $170.32 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.78. 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, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $197.13. The firm has a market cap of $94.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.59, a PEG ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.04.

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

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity demand associated with agentic AI is described as a tailwind for the industry. Fortinet was also highlighted as a growth stock by Zacks, though the coverage does not identify a new company-specific catalyst. Why Is Fortinet Stock Falling, and is it a Buying Opportunity? Here’s Why Fortinet is a Strong Growth Stock
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet ranked eighth on a list of large-cap technology stocks favored by billionaire investors, offering a supportive sentiment signal, although the article also discusses investor concerns about technology valuations and AI infrastructure costs. Fortinet ranked among billionaire-backed tech stocks
• Neutral Sentiment: CEO Ken Xie sold 161,483 shares, and VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares. Both transactions were under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding on vested equity awards; the CEO’s sale reduced his direct stake by 0.30%, while the VP’s reduced his by 0.03%. CEO Form 4 filing VP Form 4 filing
• Negative Sentiment: Cybersecurity shares have faced broad selling pressure, with Fortinet among the names cited in the sector decline. Concerns about technology valuations and the cost of expanding AI infrastructure could continue to weigh on sentiment despite longer-term demand prospects. Cybersecurity stocks sell off

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTNT has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America lowered shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and set a $140.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Susquehanna cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $160.00 to $145.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, October 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating and set a $136.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $147.94.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. BCS Wealth Management acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Means Investment CO. Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the third quarter worth $225,000. Brighton Jones LLC increased its position in Fortinet by 3.6% in the third quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 36,056 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $6,445,000 after buying an additional 1,238 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A. increased its position in Fortinet by 60.4% in the third quarter. Candriam S.C.A. now owns 307,256 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $55,126,000 after buying an additional 115,648 shares during the period. Finally, Verus Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet in the third quarter valued at $322,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About Fortinet

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.