Willis Investment Counsel Has $15.42 Million Stock Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Willis Investment Counsel boosted its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 5.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 194,113 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 10,813 shares during the quarter. Willis Investment Counsel’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $15,415,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Finally, Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $83.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $70.12 and a 12 month high of $109.33. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $81.88 and a 200-day moving average of $81.98. The company has a market capitalization of $61.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.85 and a beta of 1.00.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, February 5th. The software maker reported $0.81 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.74 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 124.21% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $1.91 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.86 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.74 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter 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. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $27,935,690.52. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of Fortinet 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 $14,308,506.54. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 51,396,385 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. This represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

FTNT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday, March 3rd. They set an “underweight” rating and a $64.00 price target on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, March 27th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Fortinet from $72.00 to $74.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Fortinet from $72.00 to $73.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Friday, February 6th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, March 12th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-two have issued a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $87.84.

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.