Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Acquires New Shares in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio bought 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 institutional investor bought 235,034 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $36,106,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of FTNT. Brighton Jones LLC lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 10,327 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $976,000 after purchasing an additional 221 shares during the period. Bison Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $585,000. HUB Investment Partners LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 29.1% in the second quarter. HUB Investment Partners LLC now owns 5,299 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $560,000 after buying an additional 1,193 shares during the period. Diversify Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,136,000. Finally, Quantinno Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 27.4% during the 2nd quarter. Quantinno Capital Management LP now owns 144,989 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $15,328,000 after buying an additional 31,202 shares in the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total transaction of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 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 3,907 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,923,610 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,453,213,448.40. The trade was a 0.04% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178 over the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortinet Stock Performance

FTNT stock opened at $166.00 on Friday. 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 firm has a market cap of $121.80 billion, a PE ratio of 58.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.28 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $157.68 and a 200-day moving average of $120.40. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $73.55 and a 12-month high of $173.89.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The business had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.The business’s revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.64 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.

Trending Headlines about Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary, earned CMMC Level 2 certification after validating 110 NIST SP 800-171 controls. The certification could improve Fortinet’s credibility with U.S. government agencies and defense contractors seeking compliant cybersecurity providers. Fortinet Federal’s New CMMC Level 2 Certification
• Positive Sentiment: Analysts continue to point to platform adoption, artificial-intelligence security products, product expansion and CMMC-related demand as potential growth drivers across enterprise and government markets. Fortinet Stock Surges on Security Platform Momentum
• Positive Sentiment: A new multi-year sponsorship agreement with Stanford Athletics supports Fortinet’s brand visibility, although the financial impact is likely modest compared with its core business. Stanford Athletics and Fortinet Sponsorship
• Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet recently moved above its 20-day moving average, signaling short-term technical momentum. However, technical support can also encourage profit-taking after a large advance. Fortinet Crosses Above Its 20-Day Moving Average
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation is a key overhang. With the stock near its annual high and trading at roughly 58 times earnings, investors may be demanding continued strong execution, leaving limited room for disappointment. Fortinet Valuation Leaves Limited Margin of Safety
• Negative Sentiment: Insider-trading data shows executives made no open-market purchases and reported multiple sales over the past six months. In addition, the reported median analyst price target of $115 is below recent trading levels, reinforcing concerns that expectations may have become excessive.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on FTNT. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $185.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Fortinet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 20th. Zacks Research raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 14th. Finally, Scotiabank reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have issued a Buy rating, twenty have assigned a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Company 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.