Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT Shares Newly Purchased by Whalen Wealth Management Inc.

Whalen Wealth Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 3,601 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $644,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at $9,561,650,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $940,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598,487 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership raised its stake in Fortinet by 87.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $788,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500,194 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Fortinet in the second quarter valued at about $1,432,842,000. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Fortinet by 38.9% during the fourth quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 7,730,954 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $613,915,000 after purchasing an additional 2,166,396 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FTNT shares. Rosenblatt Securities boosted their target price on shares of Fortinet from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $180.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Wells Fargo & Company set a $135.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, BTIG Research raised their target price on Fortinet from $186.00 to $203.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have issued a Buy rating, nineteen have issued a Hold rating and five have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $152.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through 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, COO John Whittle sold 2,835 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $168.74, for a total transaction of $478,377.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,365,586.38. This represents a 2.84% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock valued at $36,164,034 in the last ninety days. 17.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Positive momentum and earnings outlook: Zacks identifies Fortinet as a strong momentum stock and includes it among companies expected to beat upcoming earnings estimates. The company’s latest reported quarter already exceeded analyst expectations for both earnings and revenue, supporting continued investor interest. Here’s Why Fortinet Is a Strong Momentum Stock
• Positive Sentiment: AI and industrial cybersecurity demand: Commentary highlights Fortinet’s role in protecting physical AI infrastructure, while Rockwell Automation expanded its SecureOT managed-services offerings to support Fortinet firewalls. The relationship could increase Fortinet’s visibility and adoption among manufacturers and other operational-technology customers. Rockwell Automation Expands SecureOT Managed Services
• Positive Sentiment: Higher analyst earnings forecast: Scotiabank raised its FY2027 EPS estimate for Fortinet to $3.42 from $2.95, above the broader consensus estimate of $3.10. This suggests improving expectations for the company’s profitability, even though Scotiabank retained a Sector Perform rating. Scotiabank Has Strong Forecast for Fortinet FY2027 Earnings
• Neutral Sentiment: Peer comparison: Fortinet and CrowdStrike are both near 52-week highs. Investors are weighing Fortinet’s valuation and earnings-estimate trends against CrowdStrike’s prospects, which could influence near-term sector positioning. CrowdStrike vs. Fortinet
• Negative Sentiment: Valuation and price-target risk: After a roughly 224% three-year stock gain, analysts are questioning whether future cash flows can justify Fortinet’s valuation. Scotiabank’s $163 price target is below the current trading level, indicating limited upside under that firm’s assumptions. Can Fortinet Stay Fully Priced on Future Cash Flow?

Fortinet Trading Down 0.1%

Fortinet stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $189.15. The stock had a trading volume of 981,616 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,891,526. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $138.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $73.55 and a one year high of $192.41. The stock has a market cap of $138.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 66.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. Fortinet had a return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.The company had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.89 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.64 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc develops and provides cybersecurity products and services for businesses, governments, and service providers. The company’s portfolio is designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments, and operational technology from cyber threats.

Its offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiSASE secure access service edge solutions. Fortinet also provides centralized management and analytics through products such as FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer, along with security operations, threat intelligence, and other subscription-based services through its FortiGuard portfolio.

Founded in 2000, Fortinet serves customers globally through direct sales, channel partners, and managed security service providers.