Susquehanna Issues Positive Forecast for Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock Price

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its target price increased by Susquehanna from $115.00 to $160.00 in a research report sent to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the software maker’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Zacks Research raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Compass Point set a $100.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $190.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Piper Sandler reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $185.00 target price (up from $165.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Trading Up 5.0%

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $161.95 on Friday. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $170.35. The stock has a market cap of $118.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.02, a PEG ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.09. The business has a fifty day moving average of $150.50 and a 200-day moving average of $109.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fortinet will post 2.82 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,923,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total value of $18,749,786.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $12,163,508.84. This trade represents a 60.65% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 318,387 shares of company stock worth $43,403,063 in the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth about $1,152,917,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $788,682,000 after buying an additional 4,500,194 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $940,284,000 after acquiring an additional 3,598,487 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $613,915,000 after acquiring an additional 2,166,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 76.2% during the fourth quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,109,016 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $326,297,000 after acquiring an additional 1,777,115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 results: Fortinet reported earnings of $0.90 per share versus the $0.75 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 25.6% year over year to $2.05 billion, above the $1.89 billion forecast. Product revenue reportedly increased 52%, and billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion. Fortinet lifts annual revenue forecast on strong cybersecurity demand
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance raised: Management lifted its full-year 2026 revenue outlook, signaling confidence that enterprise spending on security will remain strong amid rising data-security incidents. Analysts also highlighted pricing strength and solid execution. Fortinet raises revenue outlook after strong Q2 and new AI product push
• Positive Sentiment: AI and platform momentum: Demand for Fortinet’s AI-security offerings, SASE Firewall, security platforms and operational-technology products is providing additional growth catalysts as companies expand AI infrastructure. FTNT Q2 earnings call highlights SASE Firewall growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases: Rosenblatt raised its target to $195 and BTIG raised its target to $203, both with Buy ratings. Citigroup also increased its target to $185, reinforcing the favorable near-term reaction to the earnings report. Analysts boost forecasts following upbeat Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its target to $160 but retained a Neutral rating, while William Blair maintained a Hold rating, citing questions about how durable Fortinet’s pricing and growth advantages will be.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a risk after the stock’s substantial multiyear gain. At roughly 57 times earnings, shares may already reflect considerable optimism, leaving less room for disappointment. Fortinet stock seems stretched following its five-year run

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.