Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock Rating Lowered by Guggenheim

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was downgraded by equities researchers at Guggenheim from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued to investors on Monday, Marketbeat Ratings reports.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, July 11th. TD Cowen raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $75.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, July 18th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “buy” rating and set a $85.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, June 11th. HSBC cut their target price on shares of Fortinet from $57.00 to $54.00 and set a “reduce” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company cut their target price on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $62.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, May 3rd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-one have assigned a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $70.00.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT opened at $57.50 on Monday. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $44.12 and a 1-year high of $78.58. The company has a 50-day moving average of $59.40 and a 200 day moving average of $63.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $43.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.58, a PEG ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 0.98.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 22.23% and a negative return on equity of 2,235.48%. The company had revenue of $1.35 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.29 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 24,267 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total transaction of $1,456,262.67. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,777,294 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,927,125,412.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, Director William H. Neukom acquired 586 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $59.55 per share, for a total transaction of $34,896.30. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 295,778 shares in the company, valued at approximately $17,613,579.90. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 24,267 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.01, for a total value of $1,456,262.67. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,777,294 shares in the company, valued at $2,927,125,412.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 91,913 shares of company stock worth $5,608,349 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Vima LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winthrop Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 135.6% in the 1st quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 377 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares in the last quarter. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 4th quarter worth approximately $32,000. Finally, Oakworth Capital Inc. purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.