Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Cut to “Hold” at Freedom Capital

Freedom Capital lowered shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) from a strong-buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Tuesday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on FTNT. Royal Bank Of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $90.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on Fortinet from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $87.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, November 24th. Barclays set a $88.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, February 3rd. Finally, Robert W. Baird set a $90.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $89.42.

Fortinet Stock Up 1.2%

Fortinet stock opened at $81.67 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $80.53 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $81.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a current ratio of 1.17. Fortinet has a twelve month low of $70.12 and a twelve month high of $114.57. The firm has a market cap of $60.73 billion, a PE ratio of 33.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.78 and a beta of 1.06.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 124.21%. The business had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.86 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.74 EPS. Fortinet’s quarterly revenue was up 14.8% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $27,935,690.52. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $14,308,506.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,184,693,666.70. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 17.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lifted its position in Fortinet by 6.8% during the 2nd quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. now owns 1,305,352 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $137,800,000 after acquiring an additional 82,937 shares during the period. Allstate Corp purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $2,034,000. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 4.7% during the third quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 402,278 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,824,000 after purchasing an additional 17,892 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 39.7% during the second quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 182,160 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $19,258,000 after purchasing an additional 51,750 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 465.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 756,651 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $64,255,000 after purchasing an additional 622,809 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by 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.