Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Sold by Meridian Wealth Management LLC

Meridian Wealth Management LLC decreased its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 58.9% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 5,472 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 7,840 shares during the quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $460,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $976,000 after acquiring an additional 221 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth about $585,000. Truist Financial Corp raised its stake in Fortinet by 6.2% during the second quarter. Truist Financial Corp now owns 44,567 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $4,712,000 after purchasing an additional 2,596 shares during the period. PFG Investments LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the second quarter worth about $222,000. Finally, Ameritas Advisory Services LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $143,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt flagged potential Q4 upside from tax incentives and improved sales execution, suggesting earnings could beat expectations and provide support. Rosenblatt Q4 Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage noting Fortinet’s upgrade and resilient ARR growth as signs that the cybersecurity group may be finding support ahead of earnings — a constructive signal for investors focused on recurring revenue and AI-related deals. MarketBeat: CrowdStrike & Fortinet Context
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews Q4 and highlights expected revenue guidance of $1.825–$1.885B and steady EPS, noting AI data-center deals could shape results — useful context but not a direct catalyst until results/guidance are confirmed. Zacks Q4 Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Another Zacks piece compiles Wall Street estimates for key metrics ahead of the quarter — important for positioning but not an immediate price driver. Zacks Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: The published short-interest data is effectively zero/ambiguous and does not appear to be a meaningful near-term pressure point. (No actionable short squeeze signal.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares (~$27.9M at ~$81.42) and CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares (~$14.3M), reducing their holdings modestly — large insider sales often weigh on sentiment even when insiders retain sizeable positions. Michael Xie SEC Filing Ken Xie SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and reassessments of 2026 growth (including a Scotiabank downgrade) have pressured shares as investors mark down forward growth expectations; coverage notes led to a near-term slip in the stock. Scotiabank Downgrade Analyst Reassessment
• Negative Sentiment: Market write-ups (e.g., Seeking Alpha) note the stock slipped after the Scotiabank downgrade, reflecting immediate market reaction to the weaker outlook. Seeking Alpha: Slip After Downgrade

Fortinet Price Performance

FTNT opened at $79.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $80.36 and its 200 day moving average price is $83.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $70.12 and a 12-month high of $114.82. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 0.94 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market cap of $58.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.63, a PEG ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.63 by $0.11. Fortinet had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 28.58%.The company had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. Fortinet’s revenue was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTNT has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $80.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday. UBS Group cut their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, November 6th. Barclays set a $88.00 target price on Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, November 24th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $90.48.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $27,935,690.52. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,210,282 shares in the company, valued at $831,321,160.44. This represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $14,308,506.54. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,184,693,666.70. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 18.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Fortinet Profile

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.