Short Interest in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) Expands By 7.2%

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in September. As of September 15th, there was short interest totalling 3,280,000 shares, a growth of 7.2% from the August 31st total of 3,060,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 634,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.2 days. Approximately 3.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on CHKP shares. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Robert W. Baird boosted their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $168.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $180.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “sector outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, July 25th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $210.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 24th. Finally, Truist Financial reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $200.00 price target (up previously from $175.00) on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Sixteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Check Point Software Technologies currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $184.47.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Check Point Software Technologies

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Centaurus Financial Inc. boosted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 83.2% in the second quarter. Centaurus Financial Inc. now owns 1,865 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 847 shares during the last quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 120.0% in the 2nd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 22,000 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,630,000 after purchasing an additional 12,000 shares during the period. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at $703,000. Cetera Investment Advisers increased its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 6.6% during the second quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 60,310 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $9,951,000 after buying an additional 3,759 shares during the period. Finally, 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 2.2% during the second quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 19,441 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $3,208,000 after buying an additional 422 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ CHKP opened at $193.04 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $186.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.01. The stock has a market cap of $21.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.62. Check Point Software Technologies has a 52-week low of $126.57 and a 52-week high of $196.56.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 24th. The technology company reported $2.17 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.16 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $627.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $623.19 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 33.61% and a return on equity of 31.59%. Check Point Software Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.74 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.