Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) Shares Cross Below 200 Day Moving Average - Here's What Happened

Key Points

• Check Point shares fell below their 200-day moving average, reaching $140.86 before last trading at $141.50, near the $141.52 technical benchmark.
• Analyst sentiment remains mixed: the consensus rating is “Hold” from 27 analysts, with a $151.04 average price target. JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs and Wells Fargo lowered their targets, while Scotiabank upgraded the stock to “outperform.”
• The company narrowly beat quarterly EPS expectations at $2.49, but revenue of $669.8 million missed forecasts and declined 1.1% year over year. Institutional investors own a substantial 98.51% of shares.

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP - Get Free Report)'s stock price passed below its two hundred day moving average during trading on Monday. The stock has a two hundred day moving average of $141.52 and traded as low as $140.86. Check Point Software Technologies shares last traded at $141.50, with a volume of 2,785,653 shares trading hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut shares of Check Point Software Technologies from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating and set a $135.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Monday, July 27th. Stifel Nicolaus set a $148.00 price objective on Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Monday. Scotiabank upgraded Check Point Software Technologies from a "sector perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $185.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, July 6th. The Goldman Sachs Group decreased their target price on Check Point Software Technologies from $168.00 to $150.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Saturday, August 1st. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company dropped their target price on Check Point Software Technologies from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, July 31st. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eighteen have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $151.04.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.67. The business's 50-day moving average price is $137.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $141.52. The firm has a market cap of $14.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 14.48, a P/E/G ratio of 4.44 and a beta of 0.48.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.48 by $0.01. The firm had revenue of $669.80 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $672.06 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 37.93% and a return on equity of 38.80%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $3.94 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Check Point Software Technologies

In other Check Point Software Technologies 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 value of $478,004.80. Following the transaction, the insider owned 19,347 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $2,903,597.76. This represents a 14.14% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 29.00% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in CHKP. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 16.2% in the 1st quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 809,115 shares of the technology company's stock worth $115,582,000 after purchasing an additional 112,713 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE boosted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 26.6% in the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 808,428 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $115,484,000 after purchasing an additional 170,024 shares during the period. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT boosted its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT now owns 518,529 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $74,072,000 after purchasing an additional 93,945 shares during the period. Junto Capital Management LP acquired a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies in the 2nd quarter worth $72,445,000. Finally, Swedbank AB grew its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 458,650 shares of the technology company's stock worth $65,518,000 after purchasing an additional 4,490 shares during the last quarter. 98.51% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Check Point Software Technologies

Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. is a cybersecurity company that develops products and services designed to protect organizations, governments and consumers from cyber threats. Its offerings help secure networks, cloud environments, endpoints, mobile devices, data and remote access, with capabilities including threat prevention, firewall protection, intrusion prevention, email security and security management.

The company organizes its portfolio under platforms that include Quantum for network security, CloudGuard for cloud security and Harmony for user, endpoint and remote-access protection.

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