Merit Financial Group LLC Acquires 15,022 Shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT)

Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Fortinet, Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) by 12.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 139,319 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 15,022 shares during the period. Merit Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Fortinet were worth $13,163,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Eastern Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Fortinet during the 3rd quarter worth $25,000. Ashton Thomas Securities LLC bought a new position in Fortinet in the third quarter worth about $26,000. Private Wealth Management Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Fortinet by 73.3% during 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 boosted its holdings in shares of Fortinet by 900.0% in the 3rd 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 position in shares of Fortinet in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $46,000. Institutional investors own 83.71% of the company’s stock.

Fortinet Trading Up 0.2 %

FTNT opened at $94.23 on Friday. Fortinet, Inc. has a 1-year low of $54.57 and a 1-year high of $101.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.09, a current ratio of 1.34 and a quick ratio of 1.25. The firm has a market capitalization of $72.22 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.00. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $95.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $80.34.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on FTNT. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their target price on shares of Fortinet from $77.00 to $90.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Fortinet from $80.00 to $85.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Fortinet from $95.00 to $105.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 19th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Fortinet from $90.00 to $103.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald increased their price objective on shares of Fortinet from $88.00 to $95.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eighteen have given a hold rating, fourteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $95.16.

Insider Buying and Selling at Fortinet

In other news, CFO Keith Jensen sold 4,250 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.83, for a total value of $386,027.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 4,689 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $425,901.87. This represents a 47.54 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director William H. Neukom purchased 355 shares of Fortinet stock in a transaction dated Friday, December 6th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $98.50 per share, for a total transaction of $34,967.50. Following the transaction, the director now owns 150,245 shares in the company, valued at approximately $14,799,132.50. This trade represents a 0.24 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 67,860 shares of company stock worth $6,469,056 in the last three months. 18.00% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.