Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Upgraded to “Strong-Buy” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a research note released on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target (up from $100.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stephens set a $115.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and set a $80.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Arete Research set a $104.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, April 27th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $83.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have assigned a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $100.45.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $122.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $87.51 and its 200-day moving average price is $83.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50. The company has a market cap of $89.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 0.92. Fortinet has a twelve month low of $70.12 and a twelve month high of $123.33.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. The firm had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 2.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total value of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,927,517 shares in the company, valued at approximately $882,456,986.13. The trade was a 0.02% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total transaction of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,709,744,555.60. This trade represents a 0.01% decrease in their position. 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. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 408.3% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Palisade Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks highlighted Fortinet as one of several security stocks benefiting from surging demand for cybersecurity solutions as companies accelerate digital transformation and cloud migration. 4 Security Stocks to Focus on From a Flourishing Industry
• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its FY2026 EPS estimate for Fortinet to $2.76 from $2.62, which can support investor confidence in earnings power even though the firm kept a Sector Perform rating and a $110 target.
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple market write-ups pointed to Fortinet’s strong Q1 beat, AI-driven demand, and institutional buying as reasons the stock has maintained strong momentum after earnings. Fortinet Stock’s Momentum Score Skyrockets As AI-Driven Q1 Beat Ignites Rally
• Neutral Sentiment: Scotiabank also trimmed its FY2027 EPS estimate to $2.95 from $3.02, which is a mild headwind but not enough to offset the more upbeat near-term outlook.
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet was mentioned in broader cybersecurity and market commentary alongside peers such as CrowdStrike and Okta, reinforcing sector strength rather than providing company-specific news.

About Fortinet

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.