Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Takes Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the first quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 80,800 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $6,603,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated raised its stake in Fortinet by 27.5% during the first quarter. Silver Oak Securities Incorporated now owns 6,124 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $500,000 after buying an additional 1,319 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 43.2% in the 1st quarter. Kestra Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 15,655 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,279,000 after acquiring an additional 4,726 shares in the last quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 18.5% in the 1st quarter. Global Financial Private Client LLC now owns 15,173 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,240,000 after purchasing an additional 2,373 shares during the period. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Fortinet by 1,320.3% during the first quarter. Hilton Head Capital Partners LLC now owns 9,090 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $743,000 after purchasing an additional 8,450 shares during the period. Finally, Eagle Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 0.6% in the first quarter. Eagle Capital Management LLC now owns 26,501 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,166,000 after buying an additional 148 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total value of $18,749,786.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at $12,163,508.84. This represents a 60.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total value of $23,384,806.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,711,717,915.76. This represents a 0.30% 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. Over the last three months, insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063. 17.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Analysts and media highlighted Fortinet’s AI-driven security push, including the FortiSOC launch, with demand trends and recent strong earnings fueling expectations for continued growth momentum. Is Fortinet Stock Poised for Strong Growth With AI-Driven Security?
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was also featured as an IBD Stock of the Day after investors focused on its network firewall products benefiting from AI data center buildouts, where more server traffic creates greater demand for security tools. Fortinet, IBD Stock Of The Day, Gets Network Firewall Boost From AI Data Centers
• Positive Sentiment: The company announced Derek Kan will join its board of directors, adding public-sector, AI, and technology operating experience that could be viewed as a strategic governance positive. Fortinet Appoints Public Sector Leader and Tech Executive Derek Kan to Its Board of Directors
• Neutral Sentiment: Several additional articles repeated the same growth and AI-security themes, reinforcing the bullish narrative rather than adding new catalysts. Is Fortinet Stock Poised for Strong Growth With AI-Driven Security?
• Neutral Sentiment: One market commentary noted broader tech stocks rebounding, which may have provided a supportive backdrop for FTNT, but was not specific to Fortinet. Dow Jones Futures: Nasdaq Set To Regain Key Level As Korea’s Kospi Rebounds, Micron Due; FedEx, Cerebras Tumble
• Negative Sentiment: Seeking Alpha warned that while Fortinet’s growth story is real, the valuation may also be stretched, which could temper upside if investors become more price-sensitive. Fortinet: The Growth Story Is Real, But So Is The Price Tag

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. DZ Bank downgraded shares of Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $125.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Tuesday, May 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Mizuho upped their price target on Fortinet from $70.00 to $86.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price objective on Fortinet from $90.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, May 8th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-five have given a Hold rating and four have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.77.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $149.93 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $121.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $95.22. The firm has a market cap of $109.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.89, a PEG ratio of 3.98 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1 year low of $70.12 and a 1 year high of $151.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The firm’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. 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, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.78 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.