Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Hold” from Analysts

Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) have earned an average recommendation of “Hold” from the thirty-seven ratings firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Four investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-four have given a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating on the company. The average twelve-month price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $121.0968.

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $100.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, May 4th. Mizuho set a $125.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $150.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 10th. Morgan Stanley upgraded Fortinet from an “underweight” rating to an “outperform” rating and increased their price target for the stock from $80.00 to $133.00 in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.9%

FTNT opened at $155.05 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $113.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.87, a PEG ratio of 4.30 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $170.35. The business’s fifty day moving average is $146.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $105.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.15.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. The business had revenue of $1.85 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 160.08% and a net margin of 27.49%.The business’s revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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. Analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.8 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet News Summary

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was highlighted as one of the better-positioned cybersecurity names to benefit from rising enterprise AI adoption, with demand expected to grow for AI security, identity protection, and Zero Trust solutions. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Another note described Fortinet as a GARP candidate, suggesting investors can still find upside in the stock because of its solid growth prospects relative to valuation. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst sentiment improved, with Robert W. Baird raising its price target and another report saying a Fortinet analyst is “no longer bearish,” reinforcing confidence in the company’s fundamentals. Article Title
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet also announced a collaboration with Intel to develop its next-generation Security Processor 6, a sign of continued product innovation and supply-chain diversification. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Broker commentary also warned that cybersecurity valuations remain elevated ahead of earnings, which could limit near-term upside for FTNT despite the company’s strong positioning. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Recent market action showed Fortinet trading lower as broader markets moved higher, suggesting some profit-taking or valuation pressure remains in the stock. Article Title

Insider Activity

In other news, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total transaction of $18,749,786.15. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,163,508.84. The trade was a 60.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total transaction of $23,384,806.56. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $7,711,717,915.76. The trade was 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. In the last quarter, insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock worth $43,403,063. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 53.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 215 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 3.0% during the first quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $398,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. PDS Planning Inc boosted its stake in Fortinet by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $326,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortinet by 31.4% during the fourth quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after buying an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.