Fortinet stock price target raised at Wedbush, citing stock split and increasing cyber threats

Wedbush raised its Fortinet Inc. stock price to $76 from $68 on Tuesday, citing the cybersecurity company's recent stock split and an increasingly complex cyber threat environment. "While a slowing macro and potential recession are being closely watched, priorities are clear for CIOs [Chief Information Officers] and CISOs [Chief Information Security Officers] in this environment as protecting enterprises against rising sophisticated threats is a major issue for Boards and C- Level with more data migrating to the cloud and vulnerabilities across the board (endpoints, mobile, access levels),"wrote Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, in a note. "In a jittery macro and market backdrop, we view cyber security as a 'safety blanket tech sector' in a Category 5 storm." Wedbush also highlighted Fortinet's recent five-for-one stock split, which was its first since a two-for-one split in June 2011, and only the second since the company went public in November 2009. Set against the backdrop of increasing demand for cybersecurity products, Wedbush added Fortinet and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. to its Best Ideas List. Wedbush maintained its outperform rating and $145 price target on Check Point and its outperform rating on Fortinet. Shares of Fortinet rose 0.3% to $62.44 before market open on Tuesday. The company's stock has fallen 13.4% this year, compared to the S&P 500's 19.1% decline. Check Point shares, which have gained 7.8% this year, ended Monday's session down 1.2% at $125.64.

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