Fortinet Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) saw some unusual options trading activity on Friday. Investors acquired 24,963 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the average daily volume of 17,938 call options.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 476,596 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total value of $46,935,174.08. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,730,560 shares in the company, valued at approximately $958,265,548.80. This trade represents a 4.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,486 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.48, for a total transaction of $15,607,701.28. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $5,061,072,243.92. This represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Fortinet by 703.1% during the 1st quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 257 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 225 shares during the period. Saudi Central Bank bought a new stake in Fortinet in the first quarter valued at $25,000. LSV Asset Management bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the second quarter worth $25,000. Clearstead Trust LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the first quarter valued at $28,000. Finally, Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Fortinet by 2,184.6% in the first quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 297 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $29,000 after buying an additional 284 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Price Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $84.21 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $64.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.12. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $114.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.33, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.24. The company’s 50-day moving average is $87.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $95.96.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.64 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.59 by $0.05. Fortinet had a net margin of 30.60% and a return on equity of 111.46%. The firm had revenue of $1.63 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.63 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.57 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 13.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTNT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Cowen cut shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $110.00 to $90.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (down from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $78.00 and set an “in-line” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, August 8th. Finally, Erste Group Bank downgraded shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $97.03.

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.