Candriam S.C.A. Buys 115,648 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Candriam S.C.A. boosted its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 60.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 307,256 shares of the software maker’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,648 shares during the period. Candriam S.C.A.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $55,126,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 2nd quarter worth $9,561,650,000. First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% in the 1st 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 last quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 87.4% in the 1st quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 9,651,024 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $788,682,000 after purchasing an additional 4,500,194 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $1,432,842,000. Finally, Legal & General Group Plc acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 2nd quarter valued at about $979,062,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Fortinet Stock Down 3.0%

FTNT stock opened at $118.84 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.22, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.28. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $73.55 and a 1-year high of $197.13. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $168.06 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $129.50. The firm has a market cap of $87.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.58, a PEG ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.04.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.96% and a return on equity of 152.72%. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $2.06 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.74 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.21 EPS for the current year.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Scotiabank raised its FY2026 and FY2027 earnings-per-share estimates to $3.21 and $3.50, respectively, while keeping its “Sector Perform” rating and $140 price target. The higher forecasts offer a modest positive signal, though the FY2026 estimate matches consensus. Scotiabank estimate update
• Positive Sentiment: Fortinet introduced FortiGuard Inline AI Security, which adds inspection and controls for enterprise generative-AI use, and FortiLink SASE, a cloud-delivered security service for distributed sites. The launches broaden its product portfolio and target evolving security needs. Fortinet unveiled two new security services
• Positive Sentiment: FortiAIGate is now available on Equinix’s Distributed AI Hub, giving customers a validated architecture to secure and govern AI across distributed environments. The partnership could support demand for Fortinet’s AI-security products. Fortinet and Equinix secure distributed AI at scale
• Negative Sentiment: A recent analysis highlighted a cut to the services outlook and questioned whether Fortinet’s valuation is supported by its future cash generation. The concern may keep investors focused on the pace of service-business growth. Fortinet stock valuation and service outlook analysis
• Negative Sentiment: ETFs were net sellers of Fortinet shares on Nov. 3, with $15.7 million in net sales, a possible near-term source of selling pressure. ETF trading activity
• Negative Sentiment: Insider Ken Xie reportedly sold 161,483 shares. Such sales can weigh on sentiment, although the report does not establish the reason for the transaction. Insider share sale report

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on FTNT shares. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reaffirmed a “hold” rating and set a $130.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. Royal Bank Of Canada set a $165.00 price objective on Fortinet and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Morgan Stanley restated a “positive” rating and set a $136.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Jefferies Financial Group restated a “hold” rating and set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Fortinet from $175.00 to $140.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.44.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.49, for a total value of $404,138.29. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,284,328,436.40. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 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, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,483 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.31, for a total transaction of $20,881,366.73. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at $6,849,857,423.32. This represents a 0.30% 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. Insiders sold a total of 221,304 shares of company stock valued at $30,675,309 in the last quarter. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Profile

Fortinet, Inc is a cybersecurity and networking company that provides products and services to help organizations protect their networks, devices, applications, and cloud environments. Its offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, the FortiOS operating system, and security, endpoint, cloud, and secure access service edge (SASE) solutions.

The company’s Security Fabric platform is designed to integrate security and networking products and support centralized visibility and management.