Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Lowered to Strong Sell Rating by DZ Bank

DZ Bank lowered shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HC Wainwright restated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $163.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday. Barclays set a $190.00 price target on shares of Fortinet and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Fortinet has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.

Fortinet Stock Up 5.0%

Shares of NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $161.95 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $118.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 57.02, a P/E/G ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.07 and a current ratio of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $150.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $109.09. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $70.12 and a 52-week high of $170.35.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for 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 firm’s revenue was up 25.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $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, equities research analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.82 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total value of $18,749,786.15. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at $12,163,508.84. The trade was a 60.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total transaction of $23,384,806.56. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $7,711,717,915.76. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock worth $43,403,063 over the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 53.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 215 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 75 shares in the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Fortinet by 3.0% during the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $309,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC boosted its stake in Fortinet by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $398,000 after purchasing an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. PDS Planning Inc now owns 4,110 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GW&K Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 123 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 results: Fortinet reported earnings of $0.90 per share versus the $0.75 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 25.6% year over year to $2.05 billion, above the $1.89 billion forecast. Product revenue reportedly increased 52%, and billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion. Fortinet lifts annual revenue forecast on strong cybersecurity demand
• Positive Sentiment: Guidance raised: Management lifted its full-year 2026 revenue outlook, signaling confidence that enterprise spending on security will remain strong amid rising data-security incidents. Analysts also highlighted pricing strength and solid execution. Fortinet raises revenue outlook after strong Q2 and new AI product push
• Positive Sentiment: AI and platform momentum: Demand for Fortinet’s AI-security offerings, SASE Firewall, security platforms and operational-technology products is providing additional growth catalysts as companies expand AI infrastructure. FTNT Q2 earnings call highlights SASE Firewall growth
• Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases: Rosenblatt raised its target to $195 and BTIG raised its target to $203, both with Buy ratings. Citigroup also increased its target to $185, reinforcing the favorable near-term reaction to the earnings report. Analysts boost forecasts following upbeat Q2 earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its target to $160 but retained a Neutral rating, while William Blair maintained a Hold rating, citing questions about how durable Fortinet’s pricing and growth advantages will be.
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a risk after the stock’s substantial multiyear gain. At roughly 57 times earnings, shares may already reflect considerable optimism, leaving less room for disappointment. Fortinet stock seems stretched following its five-year run

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.