DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main Sells 15,452 Shares of Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main reduced its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Free Report) by 19.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 63,027 shares of the technology company's stock after selling 15,452 shares during the period. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.06% of Check Point Software Technologies worth $11,767,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $428,820,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies in the fourth quarter valued at about $100,456,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC increased its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 33.8% during the fourth quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,929,604 shares of the technology company's stock worth $360,257,000 after purchasing an additional 487,823 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth about $73,186,000. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP increased its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 17.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 1,822,787 shares of the technology company's stock worth $340,314,000 after purchasing an additional 269,925 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHKP. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 26th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $185.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Susquehanna lifted their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $215.00 to $255.00 and gave the company a "positive" rating in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Sixteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $232.04.

Check Point Software Technologies Stock Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHKP traded up $1.20 during trading on Thursday, hitting $215.69. 242,847 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 778,020. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $219.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $202.99. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 1-year low of $145.75 and a 1-year high of $234.36. The company has a market capitalization of $23.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 28.88, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.66.

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