Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stake Lessened by CENTRAL TRUST Co

CENTRAL TRUST Co decreased its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 13.9% during the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 3,112 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 502 shares during the quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $241,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. Winthrop Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Oakworth Capital Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $33,000. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 61.2% during the 2nd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 627 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after acquiring an additional 238 shares during the last quarter. Finally, City State Bank boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 900.0% during the 3rd quarter. City State Bank now owns 500 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,847,018 shares in the company, valued at $608,626,179.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value of $1,386,590.32. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 10,847,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total transaction of $1,731,010.58. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,842,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,568,434,657.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 95,250 shares of company stock worth $6,790,149 in the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT opened at $80.34 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $77.64 and a 200-day moving average of $67.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52-week low of $44.12 and a 52-week high of $83.77. The company has a market cap of $61.45 billion, a PE ratio of 47.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.00.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The company had revenue of $1.43 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.31 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 1.74 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $78.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Susquehanna upped their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $65.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 8th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $74.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, October 7th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $69.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Finally, Rosenblatt Securities lowered their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, August 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $73.25.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.