Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Sees Large Decline in Short Interest

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in the month of October. As of October 31st, there was short interest totalling 2,840,000 shares, a decrease of 14.5% from the October 15th total of 3,320,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 661,400 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days. Approximately 3.3% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

CHKP stock traded down $3.30 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $174.25. The company had a trading volume of 598,690 shares, compared to its average volume of 932,522. Check Point Software Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $139.55 and a fifty-two week high of $210.70. The company has a market capitalization of $19.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.97 and a beta of 0.63. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $191.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.23.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 33.17% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The company had revenue of $635.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.96 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Check Point Software Technologies

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA grew its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 2.1% during the second quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA now owns 5,527,700 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $912,070,000 after buying an additional 114,938 shares during the last quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 10.5% during the 2nd quarter. Acadian Asset Management LLC now owns 4,108,685 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $677,869,000 after acquiring an additional 391,983 shares during the period. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 13.1% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 3,623,923 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $594,169,000 after acquiring an additional 419,404 shares in the last quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd increased its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Ninety One UK Ltd now owns 3,608,785 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $595,450,000 after purchasing an additional 39,092 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 10.7% during the third quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,836,799 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $354,153,000 after purchasing an additional 177,104 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on CHKP. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $178.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $180.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, October 28th. Finally, Truist Financial boosted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Check Point Software Technologies has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $197.74.

Check Point Software Technologies Company Profile

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. develops, markets, and supports a range of products and services for IT security worldwide. The company offers a multilevel security architecture, cloud, network, mobile devices, endpoints information, and IOT solutions. It provides Check Point Infinity Architecture, a cyber security architecture that protects against fifth generation cyber-attacks across various networks, endpoint, cloud, workloads, Internet of Things, and mobile.