Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Raised to Buy at Wall Street Zen

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was upgraded by analysts at Wall Street Zen from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Monday.

Several other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Arete Research set a $104.00 target price on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, April 27th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 price objective (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Rosenblatt Securities lifted their price objective on Fortinet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Wolfe Research set a $175.00 target price on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-one have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

Fortinet Trading Up 3.1%

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $168.29 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $151.77 and a 200-day moving average of $110.55. The stock has a market cap of $123.48 billion, a PE ratio of 59.26, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.07. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $70.12 and a 52-week high of $170.35. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a current ratio of 1.28.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. Fortinet’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet will post 2.97 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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 transaction of $18,749,786.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at $12,163,508.84. This represents a 60.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% 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. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 475,157 shares of company stock worth $69,480,964. Corporate insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,152,917,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $788,682,000 after acquiring an additional 4,500,194 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $940,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598,487 shares in the last quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $613,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 76.2% during the 4th quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 4,109,016 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $326,297,000 after purchasing an additional 1,777,115 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Raised guidance and strong results support the bull case. Fortinet reported second-quarter revenue of approximately $2.05 billion, up 25.6% year over year, while earnings exceeded analyst expectations. Management raised full-year 2026 revenue guidance to $8.02 billion-$8.18 billion and projected third-quarter revenue of $2.01 billion-$2.10 billion. Fortinet Is Up 8.8% After Raising 2026 Revenue Guidance and Launching New AI-Focused Firewall
• Positive Sentiment: AI product launch adds a growth catalyst. The new FortiGate 1200G series with FortiSASE Outpost targets high-performance, AI-focused and sovereignty-sensitive security deployments across hybrid environments, strengthening Fortinet’s positioning in an expanding cybersecurity market.
• Positive Sentiment: Growth-focused commentary remains favorable. Zacks and related market coverage characterize Fortinet as a highly ranked growth stock, citing above-average financial growth and the potential for continued market outperformance. Why Growth Investors Should Buy Fortinet Now
• Neutral Sentiment: Insider selling appears administrative rather than bearish. CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares, while VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares. Both transactions were made under pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 plans to cover tax withholding tied to vested equity awards. The sales represented only 0.30% and 0.03% of their respective holdings.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and execution risks could limit upside. Baird reaffirmed a Hold rating and $165 price target, citing margin and balance-sheet concerns. With the stock trading near its 52-week high and at a high earnings multiple, investors may be sensitive to any slowdown in growth or profitability. Fortinet Margin and Balance-Sheet Risks Cap Upside

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.