Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Reaches New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $159.80 and last traded at $158.8530, with a volume of 1692999 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $153.62.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Fortinet from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Fortinet from $73.00 to $75.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Bank of America raised their price objective on Fortinet from $130.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 8th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus set a $85.00 target price on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, March 11th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have given a Buy rating, twenty-four have assigned a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $107.58.

Fortinet Stock Performance

The stock has a 50-day moving average of $125.92 and a 200 day moving average of $96.71. The stock has a market cap of $116.19 billion, a PE ratio of 61.17, a P/E/G ratio of 4.25 and a beta of 1.11. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.62 by $0.20. Fortinet had a return on equity of 160.08% and a net margin of 27.49%.The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.73 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. Equities analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.78 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,711,717,915.76. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total transaction of $572,141.08. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 9,923,610 shares in the company, valued at $1,453,213,448.40. This trade represents a 0.04% 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. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063. 17.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. State Street Corp increased its stake in Fortinet by 1.6% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,493,860,000 after acquiring an additional 477,397 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its stake in shares of Fortinet by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 14,504,597 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,151,810,000 after purchasing an additional 893,190 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% during 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 period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. increased its position in shares of Fortinet by 17.0% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 10,816,519 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $909,453,000 after purchasing an additional 1,568,337 shares during the last quarter. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.