Empowered Funds LLC Invests $50.32 Million in Fortinet, Inc. $FTNT

Posted by George Bondi on Aug 28th, 2026

Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT – Free Report) in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund acquired 327,582 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $50,323,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Fortinet by 53.6% during the second quarter. Elevation Wealth Partners LLC now owns 215 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 75 shares during the last quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Fortinet by 3.0% in the 1st quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,780 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $309,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Optimist Retirement Group LLC now owns 5,010 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $398,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the period. GW&K Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Fortinet by 31.4% in the 4th quarter. GW&K Investment Management LLC now owns 515 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $41,000 after acquiring an additional 123 shares during the period. Finally, Delta Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Fortinet by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Delta Investment Management LLC now owns 5,250 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $417,000 after acquiring an additional 125 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 161,482 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $162.66, for a total value of $26,266,662.12. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 52,972,372 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,616,486,029.52. This trade represents a 0.30% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 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 business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $162.63, for a total value of $507,568.23. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 9,918,360 shares in the company, valued at $1,613,022,886.80. The trade was 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. In the last three months, insiders sold 329,142 shares of company stock worth $50,731,178. 17.60% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Fortinet News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Fortinet this week:

Positive Sentiment: Cybersecurity-sector rally lifted sentiment. Fortinet appears to be benefiting from strong quarterly results and upbeat outlooks from major cybersecurity peers, creating a positive read-through for comparable companies. The company’s own recent results showed 25.6% year-over-year revenue growth to $2.05 billion and earnings above analyst expectations. Why Fortinet Stock Is Up Today
Positive Sentiment: CMMC Level 2 certification strengthens Fortinet’s federal positioning. Fortinet Federal, a wholly owned subsidiary, received certification after an independent assessment validated 110 NIST SP 800-171 security requirements for protecting Controlled Unclassified Information. The milestone may improve Fortinet’s ability to compete for U.S. government and defense-related contracts. Fortinet Federal Achieves CMMC Level 2 Certification
Positive Sentiment: Operational momentum remains strong. Fortinet reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and revenue, with product revenue growth and higher full-year guidance reinforcing the company’s growth narrative. This provides a fundamental backdrop for the recent share-price strength.
Neutral Sentiment: Valuation is becoming a concern. An investment analysis highlighted Fortinet’s strong platform and cash generation but argued that the elevated valuation leaves limited margin of safety. With the shares near their 52-week high, additional gains may require continued execution and upward revisions to expectations. Fortinet Strong Platform and Cash Generation, but Valuation Leaves Limited Margin of Safety
Negative Sentiment: Insider selling and mixed analyst views could limit upside. Reported insider activity showed executives selling shares without recorded open-market purchases during the past six months. Several analysts also maintain cautious ratings, and the reported median price target is below the current trading range, signaling potential valuation pressure.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have commented on FTNT. Zacks Research raised shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 14th. HSBC cut shares of Fortinet from a “hold” rating to a “reduce” rating and set a $102.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, June 29th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a “hold” rating and issued a $160.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a report on Thursday, July 30th. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed a “positive” rating and set a $136.00 price objective (up from $133.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their target price on Fortinet from $115.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, nine have assigned a Buy rating, twenty have issued a Hold rating and five have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Fortinet has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $150.91.

View Our Latest Stock Report on Fortinet

Fortinet Trading Up 9.7%

FTNT opened at $172.78 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $126.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 60.84, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 1.28, a quick ratio of 1.19 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12 month low of $73.55 and a 12 month high of $173.89. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $157.25 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.08.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The software maker reported $0.90 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.75 by $0.15. The firm had revenue of $2.05 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Fortinet, Inc. will post 3.05 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Fortinet

(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.