Leuthold Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Leuthold Group LLC cut its stake in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 3.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 69,550 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,300 shares during the period. Leuthold Group LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $5,394,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sarasin & Partners LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 22.4% in the 2nd quarter. Sarasin & Partners LLP now owns 2,163,093 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $130,370,000 after purchasing an additional 395,477 shares during the last quarter. PDS Planning Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the first quarter valued at approximately $200,000. Cetera Investment Advisers grew its position in shares of Fortinet by 543.5% during the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 157,319 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $10,765,000 after acquiring an additional 132,871 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 10.5% in the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 138,893 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $9,488,000 after acquiring an additional 13,178 shares during the period. Finally, Magnetar Financial LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 1st quarter valued at $3,189,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Price Performance

Fortinet stock opened at $81.28 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $62.17 billion, a PE ratio of 47.54, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.00. Fortinet, Inc. has a 52 week low of $44.12 and a 52 week high of $83.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $77.64 and its 200 day simple moving average is $67.04. The company has a quick ratio of 1.22, a current ratio of 1.32 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.45.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 6th. The software maker reported $0.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.41 by $0.16. The firm 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.31 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Fortinet, Inc. 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 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 owns 10,847,018 shares in the company, valued at approximately $608,626,179.98. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,307 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total value of $1,908,610.23. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,915,530 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,005,692,751.70. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $56.11, for a total value 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 95,250 shares of company stock valued at $6,790,149 over the last quarter. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have issued reports on FTNT. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $70.00 to $76.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, August 7th. StockNews.com upgraded Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday. DZ Bank raised Fortinet from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $65.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 8th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on Fortinet from $75.00 to $80.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. Finally, HSBC upgraded Fortinet from a “reduce” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $59.00 price target for the company in a research note on Wednesday, August 7th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty-two have issued a hold rating, ten have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $73.25.

Fortinet Company Profile

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.