Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc. reduced its position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 6.5% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 156,284 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 10,789 shares during the period. Fortinet accounts for approximately 1.9% of Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Wilkins Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $13,140,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. LSV Asset Management purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 1,556.5% in the 3rd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 381 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 358 shares during the period. Finally, E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Fortinet by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 355 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Price Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $75.75 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $56.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.17, a PEG ratio of 2.64 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $80.22 and a 200 day simple moving average of $84.70. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $70.12 and a 52 week high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.11. Fortinet had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 28.58%.The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.660-2.700 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.730-0.750 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,485 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total transaction of $13,710,537.35. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,445,911,452.29. This trade represents a 0.31% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,546 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.53, for a total transaction of $306,835.38. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 10,492,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $907,874,317.54. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

FTNT has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. UBS Group lowered their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $80.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $85.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $85.00 price objective (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday, January 12th. Robert W. Baird reduced their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $86.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. Finally, TD Cowen decreased their price target on Fortinet from $105.00 to $100.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.04.

Fortinet 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.