Essex Savings Bank Takes Position in Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Essex Savings Bank acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 2,155 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in FTNT. Eastern Bank acquired a new position in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC acquired a new position in shares of Fortinet during the third quarter worth $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC increased its holdings in Fortinet by 73.3% in the third quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 409 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 173 shares during the last quarter. City State Bank raised its stake in Fortinet by 900.0% in the third quarter. City State Bank now owns 500 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $39,000 after buying an additional 450 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Paladin Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth about $46,000. 83.71% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently commented on FTNT. Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective (up previously from $85.00) on shares of Fortinet in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Fortinet from $90.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Fortinet from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Finally, Raymond James restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Fortinet in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, nineteen have issued a hold rating, fourteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $94.35.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Ken Xie sold 22,916 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, December 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $97.93, for a total transaction of $2,244,163.88. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 48,983,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,796,972,076.19. The trade was a 0.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director William H. Neukom bought 355 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, December 6th. The shares were bought at an average price of $98.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,967.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 150,245 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $14,799,132.50. This trade represents a 0.24 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 67,860 shares of company stock valued at $6,469,056 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 18.00% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Stock Performance

Shares of FTNT stock opened at $94.05 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.34, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $95.43 and a 200-day simple moving average of $80.00. The company has a market cap of $72.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.50, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.00. Fortinet, Inc. has a 12-month low of $54.57 and a 12-month high of $101.00.

About Fortinet

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.