Short Interest in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Rises By 5.7%

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 31st, there was short interest totalling 13,720,000 shares, a growth of 5.7% from the August 15th total of 12,980,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,480,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $74.68 on Thursday. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $44.12 and a 12-month high of $78.08. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $67.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $65.07. The firm has a market cap of $57.05 billion, a PE ratio of 48.81, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. The firm had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.40 billion. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The company’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 1.7 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Fortinet from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on Fortinet from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Barclays cut their price objective on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities decreased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, August 5th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $71.57.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $608,626,179.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total transaction of $1,731,010.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,842,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 96,210 shares of company stock valued at $6,337,801 in the last 90 days. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. TFO Wealth Partners LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 72,668.0% in the 4th quarter. TFO Wealth Partners LLC now owns 18,192 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,065,000 after buying an additional 18,167 shares in the last quarter. Sanibel Captiva Trust Company Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth $10,394,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 30.2% in the 4th quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 1,675,718 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $98,080,000 after purchasing an additional 389,098 shares in the last quarter. Advanced Portfolio Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,537,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 26.9% during the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 10,001 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $683,000 after buying an additional 2,118 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Company Profile

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.