Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Hits New 12-Month High on Analyst Upgrade

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Tuesday after Susquehanna raised their price target on the stock from $90.00 to $110.00. Susquehanna currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Fortinet traded as high as $110.99 and last traded at $109.55, with a volume of 5108038 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $107.66.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on FTNT. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Fortinet from $114.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday. Bank of America lifted their target price on Fortinet from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday. StockNews.com upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $83.00 to $111.00 in a research report on Monday, November 11th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $102.77.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, Director William H. Neukom purchased 355 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $98.50 per share, with a total value of $34,967.50. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 150,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,799,132.50. The trade was a 0.24 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CFO Keith Jensen sold 17,650 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $1,688,399.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 4,689 shares in the company, valued at $448,549.74. This trade represents a 79.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,860 shares of company stock valued at $6,469,056 in the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 73.3% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 500 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.34. The company has a market capitalization of $83.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.75 and a beta of 1.01.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 463.85% and a net margin of 29.30%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.05 earnings per share for the current year.

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.