Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires Shares of 235,034 Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 235,034 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $36,106,000.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. grew its stake in Fortinet by 408.3% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Wexford Capital LP purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth about $25,000. Finally, Elyxium Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 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, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total value of $572,141.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178 over the last three months. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary, earned CMMC Level 2 certification after validating 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls. The certification could improve Fortinet’s credibility with U.S. government agencies and defense contractors seeking compliant cybersecurity providers. Fortinet Federal’s New CMMC Level 2 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to platform adoption, artificial-intelligence security products, product expansion and CMMC-related demand as potential growth drivers across enterprise and government markets. Fortinet Stock Surges on Security Platform Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A new multi-year sponsorship agreement with Stanford Athletics supports Fortinet’s brand visibility, although the financial impact is likely modest compared with its core business. Stanford Athletics and Fortinet Sponsorship
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet recently moved above its 20-day moving average, signaling short-term technical momentum. However, technical support can also encourage profit-taking after a large advance. Fortinet Crosses Above Its 20-Day Moving Average
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key overhang. With the stock near its annual high and trading at roughly 58 times earnings, investors may be demanding continued strong execution, leaving limited room for disappointment. Fortinet Valuation Leaves Limited Margin of Safety
• Negative Sentiment: Insider-trading data shows executives made no open-market purchases and reported multiple sales over the past six months. In addition, the reported median analyst price target of $115 is below recent trading levels, reinforcing concerns that expectations may have become excessive.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on FTNT. Cantor Fitzgerald reissued a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday. Susquehanna upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. William Blair reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday, July 21st. Stephens set a $115.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $175.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Down 3.9%

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $166.00 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $121.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 58.45, a PEG ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $73.55 and a one year high of $173.89. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $120.40. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.19.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.Fortinet’s quarterly revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.64 EPS. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.