Short Interest in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Rises By 13.7%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) saw a significant growth in short interest in the month of August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 2,910,000 shares, a growth of 13.7% from the July 31st total of 2,560,000 shares. Currently, 3.4% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 674,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Up 0.5 %

CHKP traded up $0.89 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $192.50. 661,000 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,775. The firm has a market capitalization of $21.74 billion, a PE ratio of 26.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.62. The company’s 50-day moving average is $176.97 and its 200 day moving average is $164.60. Check Point Software Technologies has a 52 week low of $126.57 and a 52 week high of $193.27.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.17 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.01. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 33.61% and a return on equity of 31.59%. The firm had revenue of $627.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $623.19 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.74 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Check Point Software Technologies

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Morningstar Investment Services LLC grew its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 98.5% during the 4th quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC now owns 970,634 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $148,080,000 after buying an additional 481,626 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $69,487,000. Boston Partners grew its holdings in 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. Acadian Asset Management LLC boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $47,244,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

CHKP has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays raised their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $175.00 to $192.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $168.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Fifteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $183.68.

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.