Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) Rating Lowered to “Strong Sell” at DZ Bank

Posted by Brian Himes on Aug 1st, 2026

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Free Report) was downgraded by investment analysts at DZ Bank from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

A number of other analysts also recently issued reports on FTNT. Scotiabank reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $163.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday. Mizuho set a $125.00 price target on Fortinet and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 15th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $175.00 target price (up from $110.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $185.00 price target (up from $165.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised Fortinet from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 11th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, ten have given a Buy rating, twenty-two have given a Hold rating and five have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

Check Out Our Latest Stock Report on Fortinet

Fortinet Trading Up 5.0%

Fortinet stock opened at $161.95 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $109.09. The company has a market capitalization of $118.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 57.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.17 and a beta of 1.09. Fortinet has a 52 week low of $70.12 and a 52 week high of $170.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.07, a current ratio of 1.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.75 by $0.15. The company had revenue of $2.05 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.89 billion. Fortinet had a net margin of 28.17% and a return on equity of 191.54%. Fortinet’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.64 EPS. Fortinet has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.410-3.470 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.830-0.870 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Fortinet will post 2.82 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, COO John Whittle sold 146,015 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.41, for a total transaction of $18,749,786.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer owned 94,724 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,163,508.84. This trade represents a 60.65% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 160,632 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.58, for a total value of $23,384,806.56. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,711,717,915.76. The trade was a 0.30% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last three months, insiders sold 318,387 shares of company stock worth $43,403,063. Company insiders own 17.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Expressive Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Fortinet in the fourth quarter valued at $646,000. Trilogy Capital Inc. increased its stake in Fortinet by 46.8% in the fourth quarter. Trilogy Capital Inc. now owns 44,152 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,506,000 after purchasing an additional 14,076 shares during the last quarter. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in Fortinet during the fourth quarter worth approximately $10,422,000. Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at $14,638,000. Finally, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans raised its stake in Fortinet by 156.6% during the 4th quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 390,492 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $31,009,000 after acquiring an additional 238,299 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Fortinet News

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Strong Q2 results: Fortinet reported earnings of $0.90 per share versus the $0.75 consensus estimate, while revenue rose 25.6% year over year to $2.05 billion, above the $1.89 billion forecast. Product revenue reportedly increased 52%, and billings climbed 33% to $2.37 billion. Fortinet lifts annual revenue forecast on strong cybersecurity demand
Positive Sentiment: Guidance raised: Management lifted its full-year 2026 revenue outlook, signaling confidence that enterprise spending on security will remain strong amid rising data-security incidents. Analysts also highlighted pricing strength and solid execution. Fortinet raises revenue outlook after strong Q2 and new AI product push
Positive Sentiment: AI and platform momentum: Demand for Fortinet’s AI-security offerings, SASE Firewall, security platforms and operational-technology products is providing additional growth catalysts as companies expand AI infrastructure. FTNT Q2 earnings call highlights SASE Firewall growth
Positive Sentiment: Analyst target increases: Rosenblatt raised its target to $195 and BTIG raised its target to $203, both with Buy ratings. Citigroup also increased its target to $185, reinforcing the favorable near-term reaction to the earnings report. Analysts boost forecasts following upbeat Q2 earnings
Neutral Sentiment: Susquehanna raised its target to $160 but retained a Neutral rating, while William Blair maintained a Hold rating, citing questions about how durable Fortinet’s pricing and growth advantages will be.
Negative Sentiment: Valuation remains a risk after the stock’s substantial multiyear gain. At roughly 57 times earnings, shares may already reflect considerable optimism, leaving less room for disappointment. Fortinet stock seems stretched following its five-year run

Fortinet Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

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.