Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Reaches New 52-Week High – Here’s Why

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $101.00 and last traded at $98.47, with a volume of 605261 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $97.47.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on FTNT. Raymond James increased their target price on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $95.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, November 8th. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 target price (up from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Fortinet from $99.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, December 16th. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $85.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “sector outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, November 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $105.00 to $106.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have assigned a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $94.35.

Fortinet Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $75.25 billion, a PE ratio of 49.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.76 and a beta of 1.00. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $92.91 and its 200-day simple moving average is $78.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a current ratio of 1.34.

Insider Activity at Fortinet

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,307 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $81.89, for a total transaction of $1,908,610.23. Following 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 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Keith Jensen sold 17,650 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.66, for a total value of $1,688,399.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $448,549.74. This trade represents a 79.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 68,123 shares of company stock valued at $6,227,201. Company insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Fortinet

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Apollon Wealth Management LLC grew its position in Fortinet by 7.6% during the third quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 15,296 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,186,000 after acquiring an additional 1,081 shares during the period. Forsta AP Fonden grew its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 11.8% during the 3rd quarter. Forsta AP Fonden now owns 135,500 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $10,508,000 after purchasing an additional 14,300 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $10,343,000. Empower Advisory Group LLC raised its holdings in Fortinet by 4.2% in the third quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC now owns 1,008,224 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $78,188,000 after buying an additional 40,277 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Fortinet by 29.5% during the third quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 152,532 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $11,829,000 after buying an additional 34,727 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

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.