Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Upgraded at Wells Fargo & Company

Wells Fargo & Company upgraded shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) to a strong sell rating in a research note published on Monday morning,Zacks.com reports.

FTNT has been the subject of several other research reports. Freedom Capital lowered Fortinet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Evercore set a $80.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Friday, February 6th. Barclays set a $88.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a report on Tuesday, February 3rd. HSBC cut shares of Fortinet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and issued a $83.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, twenty-two have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $88.62.

Fortinet Trading Up 2.1%

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $82.79 on Monday. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $109.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.26 billion, a PE ratio of 34.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $80.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $81.43. 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 (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.74 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.26% and a return on equity of 124.21%. The company had revenue of $1.91 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.74 EPS. Fortinet’s revenue was up 14.8% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 0.590-0.630 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.940-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer directly 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owned 10,210,282 shares in the company, valued at $831,321,160.44. This trade represents a 3.25% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 4.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 75,581,275 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $6,354,874,000 after purchasing an additional 2,894,355 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Fortinet by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,493,860,000 after buying an additional 477,397 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 5.2% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 16,916,974 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,783,091,000 after buying an additional 828,569 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter worth about $1,640,900,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 6.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,151,810,000 after acquiring an additional 893,190 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Company outlook and results: Fortinet guided to ~13% billings growth for 2026 and reported quarterly revenue and EPS above Street estimates — a clear fundamental positive supporting buying interest. Fortinet forecasts article
• Positive Sentiment: Support from broker moves: BMO recently bumped its price target (to $95) and cites Fortinet’s long-term track record, adding analyst support that can underpin the rally. BMO note (via Yahoo)
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation review: Recent coverage assesses FTNT valuation after the share-price momentum — useful context for investors weighing whether the rally is priced for continued growth. Valuation article
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst/market notes roundup: Fortinet appears in several analyst research roundups and conference materials (Morgan Stanley presentation transcript and top analyst call summaries), which provide incremental detail but no single catalyst. Conference transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Short-call follow-up: JPMorgan had listed FTNT among top short ideas weeks ago; recent write-ups show a mixed scorecard — the initial short interest narrative hasn’t clearly resolved and is producing uneven headlines. JPMorgan short ideas follow-up
• Neutral Sentiment: Data noise on short interest: Recent short-interest reporting in the feed shows implausible/zero values (likely a data error) — not a reliable signal for trading decisions today. (No actionable article link)
• Negative Sentiment: New negative analyst action: Wells Fargo initiated coverage with an Underweight rating and a $64 price target (materially below current levels), which is a clear near-term headwind and likely a major driver of intraday volatility. Wells Fargo initiation (Benzinga)
• Negative Sentiment: Additional sell-side downward signal reported: a Zacks note referenced Wells Fargo’s negative stance (phrased as a move to “strong sell”), reinforcing the negative take from that shop. Zacks summary

Fortinet Company 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.