Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Down 4.3% – Here’s Why

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) traded down 4.3% during trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as low as $157.07 and last traded at $154.8350. 315,807 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 95% from the average session volume of 6,173,701 shares. The stock had previously closed at $161.85.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $186.00 to $203.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Robert W. Baird set a $165.00 price target on Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, HSBC cut Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Monday, June 29th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Up 1.2%

The firm has a market capitalization of $114.72 billion, a PE ratio of 55.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $158.78 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $122.76.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm’s revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. 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 forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 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 161,482 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 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 Trading of Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. California State Teachers Retirement System lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 15,545.1% during the second quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System now owns 145,097,777 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $22,289,921,000 after purchasing an additional 144,170,346 shares during the last quarter. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $9,561,650,000. State Street Corp grew its stake in Fortinet by 1.6% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,493,860,000 after buying an additional 477,397 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth $1,152,917,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Fortinet by 6.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,151,810,000 after buying an additional 893,190 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.