Ninety One North America Inc. Sells 55,946 Shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

Ninety One North America Inc. reduced its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) by 14.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 344,311 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 55,946 shares during the period. Check Point Software Technologies accounts for about 2.6% of Ninety One North America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest position. Ninety One North America Inc. owned approximately 0.29% of Check Point Software Technologies worth $52,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in CHKP. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 138.9% during the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,505,958 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $195,775,000 after buying an additional 875,580 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $80,456,000. Ariel Investments LLC increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 121.2% during the third quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 1,083,364 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $144,391,000 after buying an additional 593,623 shares during the last quarter. Morningstar Investment Services LLC purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the third quarter worth about $65,522,000. Finally, LSV Asset Management increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 1,535.7% during the third quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 413,835 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $55,156,000 after buying an additional 388,535 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 87.62% of the company’s stock.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

Check Point Software Technologies stock traded up $1.67 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $159.76. 300,464 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 705,322. The stock has a market cap of $19.29 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 0.61. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a one year low of $117.18 and a one year high of $168.82. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $162.32 and a 200-day moving average price of $151.90.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, February 6th. The technology company reported $2.57 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.47 by $0.10. The firm had revenue of $663.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $662.09 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 34.80% and a return on equity of 30.81%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.23 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 7.85 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on CHKP. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $159.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 7th. Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $185.00 target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $132.00 to $162.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 29th. Mizuho reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $160.00 target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, March 27th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Check Point Software Technologies from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $160.16.

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.