Ethic Inc. Buys 20,068 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Ethic Inc. grew its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 46.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 63,041 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 20,068 shares during the quarter. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $5,006,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Fortinet by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 9,555 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $759,000 after buying an additional 156 shares during the last quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 126.0% during the fourth quarter. Buck Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 15,145 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,203,000 after acquiring an additional 8,443 shares in the last quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 40.7% during the fourth quarter. Diversify Wealth Management LLC now owns 61,626 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,827,000 after acquiring an additional 17,824 shares in the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR raised its holdings in Fortinet by 95.6% in the 4th quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR now owns 47,993 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,811,000 after acquiring an additional 23,451 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crestwood Advisors Group LLC bought a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $362,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,744,555.60. This represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 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. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,927,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,456,986.13. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet delivered a strong Q1 beat, with revenue up 20% year over year, EPS ahead of estimates, billings up sharply, and full-year guidance raised, signaling stronger demand across cybersecurity and AI-related security products.
• Positive Sentiment: Several analysts turned more constructive, including BTIG’s upgrade to Buy, Rosenblatt’s Buy rating with a higher target, and Citi/Susquehanna/UBS/Piper all raising price targets to around the current share price or above, supporting bullish sentiment.
• Positive Sentiment: Commentary around Fortinet’s gains suggests the results helped dispel “AI disruption” fears and highlighted growing demand tied to a more complex threat environment, which is improving investor confidence in the company’s growth runway.
• Neutral Sentiment: Citigroup and Susquehanna raised their price target to $115 while maintaining Neutral ratings, implying limited upside from current levels even after the rally.
• Neutral Sentiment: RBC Capital and Needham kept Hold-type views, indicating that not all analysts see the valuation as compelling despite the improved fundamentals.
• Negative Sentiment: There were also insider sales by the CEO and a VP, which may temper enthusiasm somewhat, though these trades appear small relative to the stock’s recent move.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on FTNT. Wedbush reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $90.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 6th. TD Cowen reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Fortinet from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Morgan Stanley reissued an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $100.45.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $114.07 on Monday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $114.66. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $82.97 and its 200 day moving average is $81.98. The stock has a market capitalization of $83.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.04, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 0.92.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.64 earnings per share for the current year.

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.