Short Interest in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Drops By 10.5%

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 12,990,000 shares, a drop of 10.5% from the September 15th total of 14,520,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 5,130,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.5 days.

Fortinet Stock Down 1.5 %

FTNT traded down $1.26 on Thursday, hitting $80.86. The company had a trading volume of 4,092,451 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,542,836. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45, a quick ratio of 1.22 and a current ratio of 1.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 52.85, a P/E/G ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $76.55 and a 200-day moving average price of $66.57. Fortinet has a 12-month low of $44.12 and a 12-month high of $83.77.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. The business had revenue of $1.43 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.40 billion. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,160.10% and a net margin of 23.71%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.31 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Fortinet will post 1.74 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 10,847,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $608,626,179.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,693 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 14th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.06, for a total value of $1,731,010.58. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,842,522 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,568,434,657.32. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 24,712 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total transaction of $1,386,590.32. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,847,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 95,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,790,149 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Syon Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 17.5% during the fourth quarter. Syon Capital LLC now owns 5,100 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $299,000 after purchasing an additional 758 shares during the period. EP Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth about $247,000. Creekmur Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in Fortinet by 24.7% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 11,961 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 2,373 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nomura Holdings Inc. raised its position in Fortinet by 227.3% during the fourth quarter. Nomura Holdings Inc. now owns 28,446 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,665,000 after acquiring an additional 19,754 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently commented on FTNT. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Fortinet from $68.00 to $72.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Rosenblatt Securities reduced their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $68.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, August 5th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $62.00 to $64.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. HSBC raised shares of Fortinet from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price objective on Fortinet from $61.00 to $75.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have given a hold rating, ten have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $72.71.

About Fortinet

Fortinet, Inc provides cybersecurity and convergence of networking and security solutions worldwide. It offers secure networking solutions focus on the convergence of networking and security; network firewall solutions that consist of FortiGate data centers, hyperscale, and distributed firewalls, as well as encrypted applications; wireless LAN solutions; and secure connectivity solutions, including FortiSwitch secure ethernet switches, FortiAP wireless local area network access points, FortiExtender 5G connectivity gateways, and other products.