Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Trims Stake in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 5.2% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,532,028 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 83,237 shares during the period. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $125,197,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of FTNT. State Street Corp lifted its position in Fortinet by 1.6% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 29,660,558 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $2,493,860,000 after buying an additional 477,397 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,152,917,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its holdings 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 worth $1,151,810,000 after acquiring an additional 893,190 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted 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 period. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Fortinet by 4.4% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 7,907,686 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $627,949,000 after purchasing an additional 332,024 shares during the period. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Fortinet Stock Down 3.8%

Shares of Fortinet stock traded down $6.22 on Friday, reaching $157.51. 3,518,279 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,833,056. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $137.74 and its 200-day moving average price is $100.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.50, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 1.07. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $70.12 and a 1-year high of $165.28. The company has a market cap of $115.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 1.09.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The software maker reported $0.82 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62 by $0.20. The company had revenue of $1.85 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.73 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 27.49% and a return on equity of 160.08%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 20.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. Fortinet has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 0.720-0.760 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 3.100-3.160 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.8 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 3,907 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $146.44, for a total value 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 represents a 0.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total transaction of $18,749,786.15. Following the sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 94,724 shares in the company, valued at approximately $12,163,508.84. The trade was a 60.65% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock valued at $43,403,063 over the last three months. 17.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have issued reports on FTNT shares. TD Cowen reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $160.00 target price (up from $125.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Monday, June 8th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an “underweight” rating and issued a $80.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. HSBC downgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $102.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Monday, June 29th. Rosenblatt Securities increased their target price on Fortinet from $105.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Piper Sandler raised their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Fortinet presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $108.74.

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.