Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Trading Down 1.7% – Should You Sell?

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) traded down 1.7% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $99.08 and last traded at $100.01. 1,143,699 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 76% from the average session volume of 4,802,233 shares. The stock had previously closed at $101.72.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fortinet from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, December 16th. Bank of America raised their price target on Fortinet from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Robert W. Baird restated a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 target price (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen increased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Fortinet from $103.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, February 7th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have given a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $103.72.

Fortinet Price Performance

The company has a 50 day moving average price of $101.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $90.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The company has a market cap of $77.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.85, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, Director William H. Neukom bought 328 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $106.33 per share, for a total transaction of $34,876.24. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 300,006 shares in the company, valued at approximately $31,899,637.98. This represents a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, CFO Keith Jensen sold 23,500 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.56, for a total value of $2,668,660.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,736 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $537,820.16. This trade represents a 83.23 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 87,120 shares of company stock valued at $8,991,409. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 61.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 6,854 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $532,000 after purchasing an additional 2,598 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 34.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 109,127 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $8,463,000 after buying an additional 27,722 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Fortinet by 5.2% during the third quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 38,844 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,012,000 after buying an additional 1,910 shares in the last quarter. United Advisor Group LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at $347,000. Finally, NorthRock Partners LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at $212,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.