Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Shares Down 3% - Here's Why

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report)'s share price traded down 3% on Wednesday . The company traded as low as $219.17 and last traded at $222.86. 244,463 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 69% from the average session volume of 778,383 shares. The stock had previously closed at $229.65.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on CHKP. Scotiabank decreased their price objective on Check Point Software Technologies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 24th. Bank of America upgraded Check Point Software Technologies from a "neutral" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the company from $230.00 to $260.00 in a research report on Thursday, March 27th. Roth Capital began coverage on Check Point Software Technologies in a report on Wednesday, April 23rd. They issued a "neutral" rating and a $215.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC reissued a "hold" rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Thursday, February 27th. Finally, Stephens reduced their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $255.00 to $229.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Check Point Software Technologies currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $232.04.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Down 1.8%

The business's 50 day simple moving average is $219.86 and its 200-day simple moving average is $210.41. The stock has a market capitalization of $24.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.66.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $637.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $635.80 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 32.97% and a return on equity of 32.40%. The firm's revenue was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $2.04 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Check Point Software Technologies

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in CHKP. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at about $428,820,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC raised its stake in 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 valued at $360,257,000 after purchasing an additional 487,823 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its stake in Check Point Software Technologies by 28.1% in the first quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,830,874 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $417,280,000 after purchasing an additional 401,150 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 269,925 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. raised its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 2.8% during the first quarter. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. now owns 1,687,393 shares of the technology company's stock worth $384,591,000 after acquiring an additional 46,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 98.51% of the company's stock.

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.