Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Short Interest Up 8.3% in December

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 3,270,000 shares, a growth of 8.3% from the December 15th total of 3,020,000 shares. Currently, 3.8% of the company’s shares are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 736,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 4.4 days.

Check Point Software Technologies Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of CHKP opened at $187.87 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $20.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.67, a PEG ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.63. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $183.98 and its 200-day simple moving average is $185.73. Check Point Software Technologies has a twelve month low of $145.75 and a twelve month high of $210.70.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $2.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25. Check Point Software Technologies had a return on equity of 31.84% and a net margin of 33.17%. The company had revenue of $635.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.96 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.80 EPS. Check Point Software Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.87 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Check Point Software Technologies

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHKP. Avior Wealth Management LLC increased its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 83.1% during the fourth quarter. Avior Wealth Management LLC now owns 705 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $132,000 after purchasing an additional 320 shares in the last quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,185,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 12.9% during the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,242 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $12,927,000 after buying an additional 7,927 shares during the period. Davis Capital Management lifted its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 141.0% in the fourth quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 3,974 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $742,000 after buying an additional 2,325 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $268,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

CHKP has been the subject of several analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial increased their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a report on Thursday, January 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 price objective on the stock. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, January 6th. Finally, Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Seventeen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $202.33.

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.