Erste Asset Management GmbH Boosts Stock Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Erste Asset Management GmbH boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 2,250.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,200 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 27,000 shares during the quarter. Erste Asset Management GmbH’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $2,708,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Golden State Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth about $46,000. Private Trust Co. NA increased its position in Fortinet by 95.0% during the 4th quarter. Private Trust Co. NA now owns 630 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $60,000 after purchasing an additional 307 shares during the period. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Finally, Venturi Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 30.6% during the fourth quarter. Venturi Wealth Management LLC now owns 696 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $66,000 after buying an additional 163 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.32, for a total transaction of $2,150,466.08. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,039,698 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,576,384,617.36. This trade represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 326,784 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total transaction of $32,080,385.28. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 11,000,068 shares in the company, valued at $1,079,876,675.56. This trade represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 622,904 shares of company stock valued at $61,338,694. 18.00% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortinet Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ FTNT opened at $96.25 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67, a quick ratio of 1.39 and a current ratio of 1.47. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $102.17 and a 200 day moving average of $91.57. The firm has a market cap of $74.01 billion, a PE ratio of 42.59, a PEG ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $54.57 and a one year high of $114.82.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a net margin of 29.30% and a return on equity of 256.53%. As a group, research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently commented on FTNT. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $135.00 price target (up from $120.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Friday, February 7th. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $87.00 to $104.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their target price on Fortinet from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com downgraded Fortinet from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 7th. Finally, KeyCorp upgraded shares of Fortinet from a “sector weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $115.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating, eleven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $103.72.

Fortinet Company Profile

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.