Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) CEO Ken Xie Sells 175,737 Shares

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. The trade was a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT traded down $1.99 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $79.30. 6,662,544 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,194,626. The company’s 50-day moving average is $80.36 and its 200 day moving average is $83.09. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.12 and a 52 week high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.58% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.63 earnings per share. Fortinet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.660-2.700 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.730-0.750 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Balboa Wealth Partners raised its stake in Fortinet by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. Balboa Wealth Partners now owns 2,330 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $246,000 after acquiring an additional 96 shares during the period. Hemington Wealth Management increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 13.2% in the second quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 851 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $89,000 after purchasing an additional 99 shares in the last quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 4.5% during the 2nd quarter. Board of the Pension Protection Fund now owns 2,300 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $243,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the period. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 41.4% during the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 355 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 3.3% in the 2nd quarter. GPS Wealth Strategies Group LLC now owns 3,391 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $358,000 after buying an additional 108 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is 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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on FTNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald restated a “neutral” rating and set a $87.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, November 24th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, Hsbc Global Res cut shares of Fortinet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.48.

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.