SUNNYVALE, Calif.— Fortinet , Inc. (NASDAQ:FTNT) President and CEO Ken Xie recently executed a series of stock transactions, according to a filing made with the Securities and Exchange Commission. On January 14 and 15, Xie sold a total of 46,057 shares of Fortinet common stock, amounting to approximately $4.27 million. The shares were sold at prices ranging from $91.9042 to $93.9214 per share. According to InvestingPro data, Fortinet maintains impressive gross profit margins of nearly 80% and currently trades near its Fair Value.
Additionally, Xie exercised options to acquire 83,333 shares on the same dates, at a price of $9.812 per share. These transactions were conducted under a pre-arranged trading plan, as noted in the filing. Following these transactions, Xie maintains direct ownership of 49,039,698 shares of Fortinet common stock.
These activities are part of Xie's ongoing management of his holdings in Fortinet, a leading provider of cybersecurity solutions.
In other recent news, Fortinet, a cybersecurity company, showed mid-single-digit growth in the third quarter of 2024, generating $1.66 billion in levered free cash flow over the last twelve months. The company also maintains impressive gross profit margins of 79.71%. These developments have led to analysts' reassessments, with Raymond (NS:RYMD) James downgrading Fortinet stock from Outperform to Market Perform due to increasing market anticipation of a 'supercycle' in network security.
On the other hand, Piper Sandler upgraded Fortinet's stock from Neutral to Overweight, raising the price target from $100.00 to $120.00. Similarly, Baird maintained an Outperform rating on Fortinet, raising the stock's price target to $105.00. KeyBanc Capital Markets also upgraded Fortinet's stock from Sector Weight to Overweight, setting a new price target of $115.00.
In other recent developments, Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) reported a 16% year-on-year increase in Q1 FY2025 revenue, reaching $65.6 billion, with the company's cloud unit, Microsoft Cloud, also performing robustly. Analyst firms, including TD Cowen, Citi, Mizuho (NYSE:MFG), and Goldman Sachs, have maintained their positive ratings on Microsoft's stock.
Lastly, the 2025 CIO Survey by Piper Sandler revealed a strong outlook for IT spending, with a record 87% of respondents anticipating budget increases in 2025. This could potentially benefit both Microsoft Corporation and Fortinet. These are some of the recent developments that investors should keep in mind.
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