Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Shares Gap Up – Time to Buy?

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) shares gapped up prior to trading on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $77.62, but opened at $83.50. Fortinet shares last traded at $82.7040, with a volume of 2,483,411 shares trading hands.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $88.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, November 6th. TD Cowen raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $100.00 target price for the company in a research note on Friday. Citigroup reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $85.00 price target (up previously from $83.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $90.00 price objective (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, January 5th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and three have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $90.04.

Fortinet Stock Up 6.3%

The firm has a market capitalization of $61.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.09, a PEG ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $80.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $84.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.11. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.58% and a return on equity of 118.27%. The firm had revenue of $1.72 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.63 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2025 guidance at 2.660-2.700 EPS and its Q4 2025 guidance at 0.730-0.750 EPS. Research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Fortinet

In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,546 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.53, for a total transaction of $306,835.38. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 10,492,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $907,874,317.54. The trade was a 0.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 158,485 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, November 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $86.51, for a total value of $13,710,537.35. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,391,879 shares in the company, valued at $4,445,911,452.29. The trade was a 0.31% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 17.20% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Pinnacle Holdings LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Finally, Ameriflex Group Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

About Fortinet

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.