Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec Takes Position in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec acquired a new position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm acquired 528,693 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $81,218,000. Caisse de depot et placement du Quebec owned 0.07% of Fortinet as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,561,650,000. State Street Corp grew its position in Fortinet by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,493,860,000 after purchasing an additional 477,397 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Fortinet by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,151,810,000 after buying an additional 893,190 shares during the period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its stake in 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 buying an additional 3,598,487 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was 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 owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of Fortinet stock opened at $172.78 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $157.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $120.08. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $173.89. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 60.84, a PEG ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.07.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous 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. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity-sector rally lifted sentiment. Fortinet appears to be benefiting from strong quarterly results and upbeat outlooks from major cybersecurity peers, creating a positive read-through for comparable companies. The company’s own recent results showed 25.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.05 billion and earnings above analyst expectations. Why Fortinet Stock Is Up Today
• Positive Sentiment: CMMC Level 2 certification strengthens Fortinet’s federal positioning. Fortinet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary, received certification after an independent assessment validated 110 NIST SP 800-171 security requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information. The milestone may improve Fortinet’s ability to compete for U.S. government and defense-related contracts. Fortinet Federal Achieves CMMC Level 2 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Operational momentum remains strong. Fortinet reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, with product revenue growth and higher full-year guidance reinforcing the company’s growth narrative. This provides a fundamental backdrop for the recent share-price strength.
• Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is becoming a concern. An investment analysis highlighted Fortinet’s strong platform and cash generation but argued that the elevated valuation leaves limited margin of safety. With the shares near their 52-week high, additional gains may require continued execution and upward revisions to expectations. Fortinet Strong Platform and Cash Generation, but Valuation Leaves Limited Margin of Safety
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and mixed analyst views could limit upside. Reported insider activity showed executives selling shares without recorded open-market purchases during the past six months. Several analysts also maintain cautious ratings, and the reported median price target is below the current trading range, signaling potential valuation pressure.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

FTNT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Monday. Evercore set a $165.00 price objective on Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Susquehanna boosted their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, July 31st. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada set a $185.00 target price on Fortinet and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

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.