Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Price Target Cut to $140.00 by Analysts at Citigroup

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its target price cut by equities research analysts at Citigroup from $185.00 to $140.00 in a report released on Thursday, Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “neutral” rating on the software maker’s stock. Citigroup‘s target price indicates a potential downside of 19.58% from the company’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on FTNT. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target (up from $116.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Daiwa Securities Group upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $115.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Fortinet from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $186.00 price objective (down from $203.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein reaffirmed a “market perform” rating and set a $145.00 price target (up from $102.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, September 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $153.72.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ:FTNT opened at $174.08 on Thursday. Fortinet has a 1 year low of $73.55 and a 1 year high of $197.13. The stock has a market capitalization of $127.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 61.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.36 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $171.91 and a 200-day moving average of $127.69.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The software maker reported $0.91 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.86 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $2.08 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $2.06 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. Fortinet’s revenue was up 20.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.74 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 3.10 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, 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 sale, the chief operating officer directly owned 96,987 shares in the company, valued at approximately $16,365,586.38. The trade was a 2.84% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,616,486,029.52. The trade was 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. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 221,303 shares of company stock worth $36,164,034. Insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. BlackRock Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 2nd quarter valued at about $9,561,650,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp bought a new position in shares of Fortinet during the second quarter valued at $1,432,842,000. Legal & General Group Plc purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter worth $979,062,000. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 45.5% during the first quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 11,506,173 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $940,284,000 after purchasing an additional 3,598,487 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 4,500,194 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Stories Impacting Fortinet

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.