Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Position Increased by Allstate Corp

Allstate Corp increased its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 20.9% in the first quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 23,291 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,027 shares during the period. Allstate Corp’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $2,242,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Ritholtz Wealth Management boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 38.4% during the first quarter. Ritholtz Wealth Management now owns 6,794 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $654,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885 shares during the period. Gould Capital LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at about $908,000. Dynamic Advisor Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at about $216,000. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 40.8% in the 1st quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 131,411 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $12,650,000 after purchasing an additional 38,080 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Fortinet by 14.9% in the 4th quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 124,501 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,763,000 after purchasing an additional 16,139 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on Fortinet in a report on Monday, May 12th. They set a “peer perform” rating on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada cut their target price on Fortinet from $110.00 to $95.00 and set a “sector perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Robert W. Baird increased their price target on Fortinet from $110.00 to $113.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen lowered Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of Fortinet from an “overweight” rating to a “reduce” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $110.00 to $78.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $97.40.

Fortinet Stock Up 2.9%

FTNT opened at $80.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a current ratio of 1.33. The company has a market capitalization of $61.32 billion, a PE ratio of 31.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $96.98 and its 200-day moving average is $100.15. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a return on equity of 111.46% and a net margin of 30.60%.The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.63 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.57 earnings per share. Fortinet’s revenue was up 13.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $15,607,701.28. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,061,072,243.92. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director William H. Neukom purchased 335 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, June 6th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $104.22 per share, for a total transaction of $34,913.70. Following the transaction, the director owned 301,471 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $31,419,307.62. The trade was a 0.11% increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 17.20% 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.