Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Shares Sold by D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc.

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) by 40.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 279,949 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 193,432 shares during the quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Check Point Software Technologies worth $52,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHKP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $428,820,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 33.8% in the fourth quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,929,604 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $360,257,000 after acquiring an additional 487,823 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP lifted its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 17.4% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,822,787 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $340,314,000 after acquiring an additional 269,925 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,429,724 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $266,930,000 after acquiring an additional 136,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 3.3% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 849,546 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $158,035,000 after purchasing an additional 27,267 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have issued reports on CHKP shares. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Friday, January 17th. Arete Research upgraded Check Point Software Technologies to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, February 24th. BMO Capital Markets reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $250.00 price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Stephens decreased their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $255.00 to $229.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Eighteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Check Point Software Technologies presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $232.04.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHKP opened at $217.59 on Friday. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 1 year low of $145.75 and a 1 year high of $234.36. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $220.18 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.77. The firm has a market cap of $23.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.13, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.66.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $2.21 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.02. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 32.97% and a return on equity of 32.40%. The company had revenue of $637.80 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.80 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.04 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.61 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.