Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Sees Significant Decrease in Short Interest

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) saw a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,080,000 shares, a decline of 7.2% from the March 15th total of 3,320,000 shares. Approximately 3.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 720,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Up 0.8 %

NASDAQ:CHKP opened at $158.09 on Thursday. Check Point Software Technologies has a 52 week low of $117.18 and a 52 week high of $168.82. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $162.32 and its two-hundred day moving average is $151.90. The company has a market capitalization of $19.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.20, a P/E/G ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 0.61.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $2.57 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $663.50 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.09 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 34.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. Check Point Software Technologies’s revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.85 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

CHKP has been the topic of several research reports. Truist Financial raised their target price on Check Point Software Technologies from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 7th. Mizuho reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $160.00 target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 7th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $132.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, January 29th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $160.16.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Check Point Software Technologies

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 40.4% during the first quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 3,555 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 1,023 shares in the last quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 7.7% during the 1st quarter. Yousif Capital Management LLC now owns 6,814 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $942,000 after acquiring an additional 485 shares during the period. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp grew its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 12.1% in the 1st quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp now owns 3,715 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $514,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. Synovus Financial Corp purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the first quarter worth about $210,000. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies during the first quarter worth about $3,511,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

About Check Point Software Technologies

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.