Meritage Portfolio Management Cuts Stock Holdings in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

Meritage Portfolio Management decreased its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,007 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 503 shares during the period. Meritage Portfolio Management’s holdings in Check Point Software Technologies were worth $6,877,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHKP. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 121.2% during the third quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,083,364 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $144,391,000 after buying an additional 593,623 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $65,522,000. LSV Asset Management raised its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 1,535.7% during the 3rd quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 413,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,156,000 after acquiring an additional 388,535 shares during the period. Boston Trust Walden Corp lifted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 248.8% during the fourth quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 306,201 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $46,784,000 after purchasing an additional 218,403 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 107.2% during the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 361,973 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $48,244,000 after purchasing an additional 187,314 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently commented on CHKP shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $170.00 to $165.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $140.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $175.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Check Point Software Technologies currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $164.00.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Down 0.7 %

CHKP stock traded down $1.07 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $151.88. 905,861 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 727,392. The firm has a market capitalization of $18.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.27, a PEG ratio of 2.61 and a beta of 0.61. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $161.64 and a 200-day simple moving average of $152.78. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 12-month low of $117.18 and a 12-month high of $168.82.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 25th. The technology company reported $1.72 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $1.72. The business had revenue of $598.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $595.28 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 34.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. Research analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

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.