Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Acquired by Marshall Wace LLP

Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 198.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 6,238,856 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,148,520 shares during the quarter. Fortinet comprises approximately 0.5% of Marshall Wace LLP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 21st largest holding. Marshall Wace LLP’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $376,016,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 2.0% during the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 7,504 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $452,000 after buying an additional 148 shares in the last quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 2.2% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 8,260 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $498,000 after buying an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV raised its stake in Fortinet by 22.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 984 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $67,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 1.7% during the second quarter. Werlinich Asset Management LLC now owns 10,650 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $639,000 after buying an additional 180 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in Fortinet by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,319 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,456,000 after buying an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $77.44 on Tuesday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $44.12 and a 1 year high of $78.08. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $69.23 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $65.21. The firm has a market cap of $59.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 50.61, a PEG ratio of 2.77 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.31 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.7 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total value of $1,763,937.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,878,806 shares in the company, valued at $3,662,977,721.64. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,538 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $74.94, for a total transaction of $1,763,937.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,878,806 shares in the company, valued at $3,662,977,721.64. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value of $1,386,590.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $608,626,179.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 96,210 shares of company stock worth $6,337,801 over the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTNT has been the subject of several recent research reports. TD Cowen raised Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price for the company in a report on Thursday, July 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Fortinet from $66.00 to $76.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Fortinet from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Wednesday, August 7th. Twenty-three analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $71.57.

Fortinet 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.