Lazard Asset Management LLC Grows Holdings in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Free Report) by 30.0% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 524,875 shares of the technology company's stock after purchasing an additional 121,234 shares during the period. Lazard Asset Management LLC owned 0.48% of Check Point Software Technologies worth $97,992,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $428,820,000. Causeway Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 33.8% in the 4th quarter. Causeway Capital Management LLC now owns 1,929,604 shares of the technology company's stock worth $360,257,000 after acquiring an additional 487,823 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 10.6% in the fourth quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,429,724 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $266,930,000 after purchasing an additional 136,699 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 3.3% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 849,546 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $158,035,000 after purchasing an additional 27,267 shares in the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on CHKP. Scotiabank reduced their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $250.00 to $240.00 and set a "sector outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Check Point Software Technologies from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. UBS Group lifted their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $200.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Friday, January 31st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised Check Point Software Technologies from a "neutral" rating to an "overweight" rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $221.00 to $255.00 in a research report on Wednesday, February 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Check Point Software Technologies from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Sixteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twelve have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $232.04.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:CHKP traded up $2.58 during trading on Friday, hitting $218.68. The company's stock had a trading volume of 519,217 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,230. The firm has a market cap of $24.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.27, a P/E/G ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 0.66. The company has a 50-day moving average of $219.48 and a 200-day moving average of $203.05. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 12 month low of $145.75 and a 12 month high of $234.36.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 23rd. The technology company reported $2.21 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $637.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.04 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current 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.