Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. $CHKP Stock Bought by M&G PLC

Key Points

• M&G PLC increased its Check Point stake by 9.1% in the third quarter, adding 21,435 shares to reach 257,348 shares valued at about $32.9 million.
• Analyst sentiment is broadly neutral: 10 analysts rate the stock Buy and 20 Hold, with an average price target of $151.32.
• Check Point reported quarterly EPS of $2.49, slightly above estimates, while revenue of $669.8 million fell short of forecasts and declined 1.1% year over year.

M&G PLC grew its stake in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Free Report) by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 257,348 shares of the technology company's stock after acquiring an additional 21,435 shares during the quarter. M&G PLC owned about 0.25% of Check Point Software Technologies worth $32,941,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Check Point Software Technologies in the 2nd quarter valued at about $72,445,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC purchased a new position in Check Point Software Technologies in the 1st quarter valued at about $34,171,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies during the 2nd quarter worth about $25,752,000. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 26.6% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 808,428 shares of the technology company's stock worth $115,484,000 after purchasing an additional 170,024 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mizuho Markets Americas LLC boosted its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 633.4% during the 1st quarter. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC now owns 158,900 shares of the technology company's stock worth $22,699,000 after purchasing an additional 137,235 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a "neutral" rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $130.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Yorkville Ives started coverage on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Wednesday, October 7th. They issued an "outperform" rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $135.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 3rd. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $145.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and twenty have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $151.32.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

Check Point Software Technologies stock opened at $143.96 on Tuesday. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 1 year low of $112.23 and a 1 year high of $206.43. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $138.91 and a 200 day moving average price of $140.58. The company has a market cap of $14.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.32, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 0.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.67 and a current ratio of 1.60.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 2nd. The technology company reported $2.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $2.48 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $669.80 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $672.06 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 31.74% and a return on equity of 34.08%. Check Point Software Technologies's revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $3.94 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity at Check Point Software Technologies

In other news, insider Nataly Kremer sold 3,185 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Thursday, October 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $150.08, for a total transaction of $478,004.80. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 19,347 shares in the company, valued at $2,903,597.76. This represents a 14.14% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 29.00% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

About Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point Software Technologies is a cybersecurity company that develops products and services to protect organizations' networks, cloud environments, devices, and users. Its offerings include network security appliances and software, cloud security tools, endpoint and workspace protection, and centralized security management.

The company's product families include Quantum for network security, CloudGuard for cloud security, and Harmony for user and endpoint protection. Check Point also provides threat prevention, security research, and related support services to businesses and other organizations around the world.

Founded in 1993, Check Point is headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, and serves customers internationally.

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