Wedbush upgraded shares of Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Free Report) to a hold rating in a report released on Thursday,Zacks reports.
Other research analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. HSBC cut shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $102.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, June 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $190.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Evercore set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Fortinet in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Fortinet from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Friday, September 4th. Finally, HC Wainwright reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have given a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $150.91.
Get Our Latest Stock Report on Fortinet
Fortinet Trading Down 1.8%
Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 return on equity of 191.54% and a net margin of 28.17%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 25.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $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. On average, equities analysts expect that Fortinet will post 3.05 earnings per share for the current year.
Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet
In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, VP Michael Xie sold 3,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,613,022,886.80. This trade represents a 0.03% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. 17.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.
Institutional Inflows and Outflows
Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of FTNT. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in Fortinet by 408.3% in the 1st quarter. Physician Wealth Advisors Inc. now owns 305 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 245 shares in the last quarter. Dunhill Financial LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Burk Holdings LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 102.5% in the second quarter. Cornerstone Financial Management LLC now owns 164 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wexford Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Fortinet in the third quarter worth $25,000. 83.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Key Stories Impacting Fortinet
Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:
- Positive Sentiment: Fortinet was named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Hybrid Mesh Firewall and ranked highest for Ability to Execute for the second consecutive year. The recognition supports Fortinet’s competitive position in enterprise cybersecurity, particularly its integrated networking, cloud, AI and security offerings. Fortinet Named a Leader in the 2026 Gartner Magic Quadrant Report for Hybrid Mesh Firewall
- Positive Sentiment: Recent analysis cited Fortinet’s raised 2026 guidance, demand for AI-security products and expanding margins as fundamental support for the stock. Its latest reported quarter also showed revenue growth of approximately 26% year over year and an earnings beat, reinforcing the company’s growth case. Is FTNT Stock Worth Buying at a Premium P/S or Should Investors Wait?
- Neutral Sentiment: Fortinet recently advanced while the broader market declined, indicating relative strength, but the move does not alter the larger debate over whether the company’s valuation fully reflects its growth prospects. Fortinet Advances While Market Declines
- Negative Sentiment: Wedbush identified CrowdStrike as its leading cybersecurity pick while downgrading Fortinet, along with Check Point, Varonis and Telos. The downgrade likely adds selling pressure by raising concerns about relative upside after Fortinet’s substantial rally and elevated valuation. Wedbush Cybersecurity Downgrades
- Negative Sentiment: Fortinet’s premium price-to-sales valuation remains a concern, particularly with some analyst price targets below the current trading range. Reported insider activity also shows executives selling shares without disclosed open-market purchases during the past six months, which may weigh modestly on sentiment.
About Fortinet
Fortinet, Inc develops cybersecurity products and services designed to protect enterprise, small and midsize business, service provider, and government networks. Its portfolio covers network security, endpoint protection, cloud security, secure access service edge (SASE), security operations, and zero-trust access.
The company’s offerings include FortiGate next-generation firewalls, FortiSwitch secure networking switches, FortiAP wireless access points, FortiClient endpoint security, and FortiManager and FortiAnalyzer management and analytics tools.
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