Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Stock Rating Cut to Neutral at Bank of America

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Bank of America from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note issued on Thursday, Briefing.com reports. They presently have a $140.00 target price on the software maker’s stock. Bank of America‘s price objective points to a potential downside of 19.58% from the stock’s previous close.

Several other equities analysts have also issued reports on FTNT. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Fortinet from $135.00 to $160.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 15th. Stephens upped their price objective on Fortinet from $160.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. DZ Bank lowered shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Daiwa Securities Group raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 4th. Finally, Capital One Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $150.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have given a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and six have issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $158.75.

Fortinet Stock Down 5.9%

FTNT opened at $174.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.28 and a quick ratio of 1.19. The company’s 50-day moving average is $171.91 and its 200 day moving average is $127.69. Fortinet has a fifty-two week low of $73.55 and a fifty-two week high of $197.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $127.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.30, a PEG ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.86 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. Research analysts expect that Fortinet will post 3.10 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 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 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 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. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 221,303 shares of company stock worth $36,164,034. 17.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 408.3% in the first quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares during the period. Dunhill Financial LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Burk Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 102.5% in the 2nd quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Timbuktu Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

More Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet reported third-quarter revenue of $2.08 billion, up approximately 20% year over year, while non-GAAP EPS of $0.91 exceeded the $0.86 consensus estimate. Product revenue rose 37% to $765 million, billings increased 29% to $2.34 billion, and operating margins remained strong. Fortinet Reports Strong Third Quarter 2026 Financial Results
• Positive Sentiment: Management raised 2026 revenue guidance and projected 2026 billings of $9.568 billion to $9.718 billion, citing demand for AI-infrastructure security. The company also increased its share-repurchase authorization by $1.2 billion, leaving $2 billion available for buybacks. Fortinet Outlines 2026 Billings and Raises Guidance
• Neutral Sentiment: The fourth-quarter adjusted EPS outlook of $0.93 to $0.95 was provided alongside the broader guidance increase, but investors judged the forecast against particularly high expectations after FTNT’s strong run and premium valuation.
• Negative Sentiment: Analysts and investors viewed billings growth and the forward outlook as insufficient relative to lofty expectations. Analysts subsequently cut price targets, contributing to the post-earnings selloff despite the quarterly beat. Fortinet Stock Sinks Despite Q3 Beat
• Negative Sentiment: Concerns that growth is slowing in one of Fortinet’s business segments, combined with broader fears that artificial intelligence could disrupt software companies, pressured cybersecurity and software stocks broadly. Software Stocks Slide as Fortinet and ServiceNow Miss Expectations

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect networks, endpoints, applications, cloud environments and operational technology systems. The company’s portfolio includes next-generation firewalls, secure networking products, endpoint security, web application security, email security, identity and access solutions, and security information and event management tools.

Its product offerings include FortiGate network security appliances and cloud-based firewalls, along with FortiSwitch, FortiAP and FortiExtender solutions for secure connectivity.