Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) Short Interest Up 32.2% in February

Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest during the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 17,960,000 shares, an increase of 32.2% from the February 13th total of 13,590,000 shares. Currently, 2.9% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily volume of 4,520,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Michael Xie sold 326,784 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $98.17, for a total value of $32,080,385.28. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 11,000,068 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,079,876,675.56. This represents a 2.89 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, CEO Ken Xie sold 23,044 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $93.32, for a total value of $2,150,466.08. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 49,039,698 shares in the company, valued at $4,576,384,617.36. This represents a 0.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 599,988 shares of company stock worth $59,094,530. Insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Fortinet

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. acquired a new stake in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Oarsman Capital Inc. grew its position in shares of Fortinet by 188.9% in the fourth quarter. Oarsman Capital Inc. now owns 416 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after purchasing an additional 272 shares during the last quarter. Graney & King LLC purchased a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Banque Transatlantique SA acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the 4th quarter worth approximately $43,000. Finally, Golden State Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $46,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT opened at $96.91 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.39, a current ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.67. Fortinet has a 52-week low of $54.57 and a 52-week high of $114.82. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $102.17 and a 200-day simple moving average of $92.08. The company has a market capitalization of $74.52 billion, a PE ratio of 42.88, a P/E/G ratio of 4.19 and a beta of 0.97.

Fortinet (NASDAQ:FTNT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 6th. The software maker reported $0.67 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.60 by $0.07. Fortinet had a return on equity of 256.53% and a net margin of 29.30%. Equities research analysts predict that Fortinet will post 2.09 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on FTNT shares. UBS Group set a $123.00 price target on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald upped their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 4th. Robert W. Baird reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $112.00 price objective (up from $105.00) on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Guggenheim reiterated a “neutral” rating on shares of Fortinet in a report on Friday, February 7th. Finally, Susquehanna raised their target price on Fortinet from $90.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, twenty have given a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $105.69.

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.