Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Downgraded by Freedom Capital to “Hold”

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was downgraded by Freedom Capital from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

FTNT has been the subject of a number of other reports. Truist Financial set a $88.00 price target on Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, January 20th. UBS Group reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Evercore set a $80.00 target price on Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 price target (up from $66.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, December 18th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have issued a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $89.42.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.2%

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $80.69 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.21, a P/E/G ratio of 2.82 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $80.54 and a 200-day moving average price of $81.70. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $114.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a current ratio of 1.17 and a quick ratio of 1.09.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.86 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 124.21%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Fortinet has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.590-0.630 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.940-3.000 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $27,935,690.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 10,210,282 shares in the company, valued at approximately $831,321,160.44. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $14,308,506.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,396,385 shares in the company, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.