Morgan Stanley Begins Coverage on Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) in a report published on Tuesday, MarketBeat.com reports. The firm issued an overweight rating and a $123.00 price target on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on FTNT. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $112.00 price objective (up previously from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, February 3rd. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Fortinet from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com lowered Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price objective on Fortinet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 4th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on Fortinet from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $105.69.

Fortinet Stock Up 0.3 %

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $98.45 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $102.26 and its two-hundred day moving average is $92.16. Fortinet has a 52 week low of $54.57 and a 52 week high of $114.82. The stock has a market capitalization of $75.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 256.53% and a net margin of 29.30%. Research analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Kenneth A. Goldman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $100.00, for a total transaction of $200,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 18,612 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,861,200. This trade represents a 9.70 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom purchased 328 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 6th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $106.33 per share, for a total transaction of $34,876.24. Following the acquisition, the director now owns 300,006 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $31,899,637.98. The trade was a 0.11 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 599,988 shares of company stock valued at $59,094,530 over the last quarter. 18.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC now owns 3,782 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $293,000 after purchasing an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 175,073 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $13,577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,836 shares in the last quarter. Claro Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $236,000. Finally, Pathstone Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pathstone Holdings LLC now owns 58,352 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,525,000 after purchasing an additional 2,196 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.