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

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have weighed in on CHKP. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Check Point Software Technologies from $182.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $178.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $200.00 price target on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $187.00 price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Check Point Software Technologies from $185.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, January 6th. 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.com, Check Point Software Technologies presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $202.33.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Avior Wealth Management LLC boosted 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 buying an additional 320 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 22,417 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,185,000 after purchasing an additional 110 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 12.9% in the fourth quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 69,242 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $12,927,000 after acquiring an additional 7,927 shares in the last quarter. Davis Capital Management increased its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 141.0% during the 4th quarter. Davis Capital Management now owns 3,974 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 2,325 shares during the period. Finally, Beaumont Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the 4th quarter worth approximately $268,000. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

Check Point Software Technologies stock traded up $1.10 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $187.87. 664,935 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 569,200. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $183.98 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $185.85. The firm has a market cap of $20.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 0.63. Check Point Software Technologies has a 1 year low of $145.75 and a 1 year high of $210.70.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25. The firm had revenue of $635.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $634.96 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 33.17% and a return on equity of 31.84%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.80 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

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.