Piper Sandler Raises Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Price Target to $110.00

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its price target raised by equities research analysts at Piper Sandler from $90.00 to $110.00 in a research note issued on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the software maker’s stock. Piper Sandler’s price objective suggests a potential downside of 1.05% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Thursday. Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. Stephens set a $115.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Citigroup reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $90.00 price target (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, February 9th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.71.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT traded up $21.22 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $111.17. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,856,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,429,715. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $82.32 and a 200 day simple moving average of $81.81. The company has a current ratio of 1.17, a quick ratio of 1.09 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.40. The firm has a market capitalization of $81.39 billion, a PE ratio of 45.78, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.92. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $70.12 and a fifty-two week high of $111.88.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a return on equity of 124.21% and a net margin of 27.26%.The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet will post 2.63 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 2,478 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.89, for a total transaction of $220,269.42. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,927,517 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $882,456,986.13. This trade represents a 0.02% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 5,355 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $88.90, for a total value of $476,059.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,978,004 shares in the company, valued at $4,709,744,555.60. The trade was a 0.01% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 17.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Pinnacle Holdings LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter valued at about $25,000. Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 408.3% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Headlines Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Beat‑and‑raise quarter: Q1 revenue $1.85B (+20.1% YoY), non‑GAAP EPS $0.82 vs. consensus ~ $0.62, billings +31% and product revenue +41%; company raised Q2 and FY26 guidance, supporting near‑term upside. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Market reaction — several outlets report the stock jumping in after‑hours/premarket (double‑digit moves on the beats) and Wall Street commentaries lifting targets and sentiment. Momentum from the beat is drawing buy‑side attention. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: AI/security product tailwind — Fortinet expanded its FortiGate G series (ASIC‑accelerated, AI‑focused data‑center/edge appliances), reinforcing the company’s positioning to capture AI‑driven security spend. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst upgrades/price target increases from some shops (BTIG, BMO and others highlighted bullish scenarios, with some targets well above current levels), which can extend buying interest. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Macro/market context is mildly supportive (equity futures and low VIX), which may amplify how earnings flows into sector leaders like Fortinet but isn’t company‑specific. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Some analysts remain cautious on valuation despite the beat (several Hold/Neutral calls were reiterated), so follow‑through depends on execution against raised targets. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider sales disclosed (Ken Xie, Michael Xie) were executed under Rule 10b5‑1 plans to cover taxes on vested awards; routine but worth noting for those tracking insider flows. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Some firms issued cautious/underperform views (e.g., Mizuho kept an underperform stance despite a raised target), highlighting downside risk if growth or margin momentum fades relative to current valuation. Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Background trimming by some institutional holders and a meaningful proportion of analysts rated Hold — this can cap upside if the stock needs a broader base of conviction beyond near‑term earnings beats. Read More.

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.