Principal Financial Group Inc. Sells 17,777 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 2.2% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 783,495 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 17,777 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $65,876,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in FTNT. LSV Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at $25,000. Financial Consulate Inc. acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the third quarter worth $25,000. Steigerwald Gordon & Koch Inc. bought a new stake in Fortinet in the 3rd quarter valued at $25,000. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 41.4% in the 2nd quarter. E Fund Management Hong Kong Co. Ltd. now owns 355 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 104 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quaker Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Fortinet by 200.0% in the 2nd quarter. Quaker Wealth Management LLC now owns 363 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 726 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently weighed in on FTNT shares. Mizuho decreased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $75.00 to $72.00 and set an “underperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, November 6th. Rosenblatt Securities raised Fortinet from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $85.00 to $100.00 in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Hsbc Global Res cut Fortinet from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 7th. Morgan Stanley restated an “underweight” rating and set a $70.00 target price (up previously from $66.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Finally, Barclays set a $88.00 price target on Fortinet in a research report on Tuesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating, twenty-four have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $90.48.

Fortinet Stock Down 2.4%

NASDAQ FTNT opened at $79.30 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $80.36 and its 200 day simple moving average is $83.09. Fortinet, Inc. has a one year low of $70.12 and a one year high of $114.82. The firm has a market cap of $58.97 billion, a PE ratio of 32.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.83 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.68, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 0.94.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 5th. The software maker reported $0.74 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.63 by $0.11. Fortinet had a return on equity of 118.27% and a net margin of 28.58%.The company had revenue of $1.72 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.70 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.63 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 14.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Fortinet, Inc. will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rosenblatt flagged potential Q4 upside from tax incentives and improved sales execution, suggesting earnings could beat expectations and provide support. Rosenblatt Q4 Upside
• Positive Sentiment: Market coverage noting Fortinet’s upgrade and resilient ARR growth as signs that the cybersecurity group may be finding support ahead of earnings — a constructive signal for investors focused on recurring revenue and AI-related deals. MarketBeat: CrowdStrike & Fortinet Context
• Neutral Sentiment: Zacks previews Q4 and highlights expected revenue guidance of $1.825–$1.885B and steady EPS, noting AI data-center deals could shape results — useful context but not a direct catalyst until results/guidance are confirmed. Zacks Q4 Preview
• Neutral Sentiment: Another Zacks piece compiles Wall Street estimates for key metrics ahead of the quarter — important for positioning but not an immediate price driver. Zacks Estimates
• Neutral Sentiment: The published short-interest data is effectively zero/ambiguous and does not appear to be a meaningful near-term pressure point. (No actionable short squeeze signal.)
• Negative Sentiment: Insider selling: VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares (~$27.9M at ~$81.42) and CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares (~$14.3M), reducing their holdings modestly — large insider sales often weigh on sentiment even when insiders retain sizeable positions. Michael Xie SEC Filing Ken Xie SEC Filing
• Negative Sentiment: Analyst downgrades and reassessments of 2026 growth (including a Scotiabank downgrade) have pressured shares as investors mark down forward growth expectations; coverage notes led to a near-term slip in the stock. Scotiabank Downgrade Analyst Reassessment
• Negative Sentiment: Market write-ups (e.g., Seeking Alpha) note the stock slipped after the Scotiabank downgrade, reflecting immediate market reaction to the weaker outlook. Seeking Alpha: Slip After Downgrade

Insider Activity

In other Fortinet news, VP Michael Xie sold 343,106 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total value of $27,935,690.52. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 10,210,282 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $831,321,160.44. The trade was a 3.25% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 175,737 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $81.42, for a total transaction of $14,308,506.54. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 51,396,385 shares in the company, valued at $4,184,693,666.70. This trade represents a 0.34% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. 18.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.