Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high on Friday. The company traded as high as $183.09 and last traded at $182.3470, with a volume of 170924 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $178.72.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have issued reports on FTNT shares. TD Cowen reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Wednesday, September 16th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $135.00 price objective on Fortinet and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Barclays set a $190.00 target price on Fortinet and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Bank of America reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, July 27th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have assigned a Buy rating, nineteen have given a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $152.79.

Fortinet Stock Up 2.1%

The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $163.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $135.17. The company has a market capitalization of $133.93 billion, a P/E ratio of 64.24, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 last year, the company earned $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. As a group, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.07 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through 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, COO John Whittle sold 53,865 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.44, for a total transaction of $8,911,425.60. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer owned 96,987 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $16,045,529.28. This trade represents a 35.71% 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. Insiders sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034 over the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 408.3% during the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter worth approximately $25,000. Burk Holdings LLC bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 102.5% during the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 83 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Fortinet during the 1st quarter valued at $29,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Fortinet Company Profile

Fortinet, Inc develops and provides cybersecurity products and services for businesses, governments, and service providers. The company’s portfolio is designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments, and operational technology from cyber threats.

Its offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiSASE secure access service edge solutions. Fortinet also provides centralized management and analytics through products such as FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, along with security operations, threat intelligence, and other subscription-based services through its FortiGuard portfolio.

Founded in 2000, Fortinet serves customers globally through direct sales, channel partners, and managed security service providers.