Danske Bank A S Invests $82.30 Million in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Danske Bank A S bought a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) during the second quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 535,734 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $82,299,000.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Expressive Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at $646,000. Leonteq Securities AG bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth about $10,422,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth about $14,638,000. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans boosted its stake in Fortinet by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 390,492 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,009,000 after purchasing an additional 238,299 shares during the period. Finally, Westerkirk Capital Inc. boosted its stake in Fortinet by 41.9% during the 4th quarter. Westerkirk Capital Inc. now owns 52,500 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,169,000 after purchasing an additional 15,500 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Virtue AI acquisition strengthens AI security offering: Fortinet acquired Virtue AI to add continuous validation, monitoring and runtime protection for AI agents across their lifecycle. The technology is intended to expand Fortinet’s AI-Native Security Fabric as companies move enterprise AI applications into production. Fortinet Advances Continuous AI Protection with the Acquisition of Virtue AI
• Positive Sentiment: AI acquisitions support cloud-platform ambitions: Coverage highlights Fortinet’s broader push to build a cloud-based security platform through AI-related acquisitions. Investors may view the strategy as a way to accelerate growth in AI infrastructure, agent security and cloud security. Fortinet, IBD Stock of the Day, Steps Up AI Acquisitions to Build Cloud Platform
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst comparisons remain favorable: A Zacks analysis gives Fortinet an edge over CrowdStrike, citing SASE momentum, steadier execution and a relatively lower valuation. Other commentary points to projected revenue growth of roughly 19% this year and continued earnings growth, while Fortinet was also identified as a potential earnings-beat candidate. CRWD vs. FTNT: Which Cybersecurity Stock Should You Buy Right Now?
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation and expectations are elevated: Fortinet has gained nearly 100% in 2026 and trades at a high earnings multiple, leaving the stock sensitive to any slowdown in growth or disappointment from future AI investments. Recent quarterly results exceeded estimates, providing support, but investors will need evidence that the acquisition strategy converts into sustainable revenue growth.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total transaction of $18,749,786.15. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,163,508.84. The trade was a 60.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. 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 sold a total of 475,157 shares of company stock valued at $69,480,964 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

FTNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. HSBC lowered Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $102.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 29th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $185.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reissued a “positive” rating and set a $136.00 price target (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, William Blair restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, eighteen have assigned a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $158.01 on Wednesday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.70 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.37. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $73.55 and a 52 week high of $172.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28. The company has a market cap of $115.93 billion, a PE ratio of 55.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.64 EPS. 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. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 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.