Clarius Group LLC Trims Stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Clarius Group LLC cut its holdings in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 5.4% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 3,496 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 198 shares during the quarter. Clarius Group LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $211,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Simplicity Wealth LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 2.2% during the second quarter. Simplicity Wealth LLC now owns 8,260 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $498,000 after purchasing an additional 174 shares in the last quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV increased its stake in Fortinet by 22.4% during the first quarter. Massmutual Trust Co. FSB ADV now owns 984 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $67,000 after purchasing an additional 180 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 0.9% during the first quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 21,319 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,456,000 after purchasing an additional 185 shares in the last quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 30,134 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,764,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares during the period. Finally, STF Management LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. STF Management LP now owns 12,917 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $756,000 after purchasing an additional 187 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have issued reports on FTNT. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price target on Fortinet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $65.00 to $66.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on shares of Fortinet from $72.00 to $67.00 and set an “in-line” rating for the company in a report on Friday, May 3rd. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $55.00 to $65.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Twenty-three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, ten have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $71.31.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Fortinet news, CEO Ken Xie sold 24,235 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.53, for a total transaction of $1,442,709.55. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,742,483 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,901,640,012.99. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares in the company, valued at $608,626,179.98. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 91,915 shares of company stock valued at $5,401,638. Corporate insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of FTNT stock traded up $1.21 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $69.89. 2,874,751 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 5,899,256. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $59.38 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $63.70. The firm has a market cap of $53.39 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 and a beta of 0.98. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $44.12 and a 1-year high of $73.91.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.41 by $0.16. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,235.48% and a net margin of 22.23%. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.47 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet Profile

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.