Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Invests $4.13 Million in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 26,875 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $4,129,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Expressive Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $646,000. Transamerica Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $492,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $10,422,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $14,638,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans increased 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 worth $31,009,000 after purchasing an additional 238,299 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT opened at $166.00 on Friday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $157.68 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.40. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $73.55 and a 52-week high of $173.89. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $121.80 billion, a PE ratio of 58.45, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s 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, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary, earned CMMC Level 2 certification after validating 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls. The certification could improve Fortinet’s credibility with U.S. government agencies and defense contractors seeking compliant cybersecurity providers. Fortinet Federal’s New CMMC Level 2 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to platform adoption, artificial-intelligence security products, product expansion and CMMC-related demand as potential growth drivers across enterprise and government markets. Fortinet Stock Surges on Security Platform Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A new multi-year sponsorship agreement with Stanford Athletics supports Fortinet’s brand visibility, although the financial impact is likely modest compared with its core business. Stanford Athletics and Fortinet Sponsorship
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet recently moved above its 20-day moving average, signaling short-term technical momentum. However, technical support can also encourage profit-taking after a large advance. Fortinet Crosses Above Its 20-Day Moving Average
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key overhang. With the stock near its annual high and trading at roughly 58 times earnings, investors may be demanding continued strong execution, leaving limited room for disappointment. Fortinet Valuation Leaves Limited Margin of Safety
• Negative Sentiment: Insider-trading data shows executives made no open-market purchases and reported multiple sales over the past six months. In addition, the reported median analyst price target of $115 is below recent trading levels, reinforcing concerns that expectations may have become excessive.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

FTNT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Compass Point set a $100.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $165.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total value of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178. 17.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.