Evercore ISI Cuts Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Price Target to $67.00

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) had its target price lowered by Evercore ISI from $72.00 to $67.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an in-line rating on the software maker’s stock.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on FTNT. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a hold rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday. Robert W. Baird dropped their price target on Fortinet from $81.00 to $75.00 and set an outperform rating for the company in a research note on Friday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Fortinet from $75.00 to $70.00 and set a hold rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. Royal Bank of Canada cut their price target on shares of Fortinet from $71.00 to $68.00 and set a sector perform rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Capital One Financial downgraded shares of Fortinet from an overweight rating to an equal weight rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 17th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have issued a hold rating and twelve have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of Hold and an average price target of $70.37.

Fortinet Stock Performance

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $58.81 on Friday. Fortinet has a 1-year low of $44.12 and a 1-year high of $81.24. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $67.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $61.96. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.38, a current ratio of 1.20 and a quick ratio of 1.08. The company has a market capitalization of $44.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.44, a PEG ratio of 2.60 and a beta of 1.08.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 2nd. The software maker reported $0.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.05. Fortinet had a negative return on equity of 2,235.48% and a net margin of 22.23%. The firm had revenue of $1.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.34 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 7.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Fortinet will post 1.4 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total value of $1,691,751.60. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 48,625,005 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,471,825,357. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other news, VP Michael Xie sold 24,710 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $64.48, for a total value of $1,593,300.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 10,867,018 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $700,705,320.64. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,694 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $71.40, for a total transaction of $1,691,751.60. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 48,625,005 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,471,825,357. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 118,480 shares of company stock worth $8,021,556. 17.54% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Vima LLC acquired a new position in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Rise Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Fortinet by 135.6% during the first quarter. Rise Advisors LLC now owns 377 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 217 shares during the last quarter. Headinvest LLC bought a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter worth approximately $29,000. Atwood & Palmer Inc. acquired a new position in Fortinet in the fourth quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Creekmur Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.