The Goldman Sachs Group Downgrades Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) to Neutral

The Goldman Sachs Group lowered shares of Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) from a buy rating to a neutral rating in a research note released on Thursday, Marketbeat.com reports. The Goldman Sachs Group currently has $207.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, up from their prior price objective of $204.00.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Check Point Software Technologies from $180.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “in-line” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Bank of America downgraded Check Point Software Technologies from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating and cut their target price for the company from $205.00 to $195.00 in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Needham & Company LLC restated a “hold” rating on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research report on Wednesday, October 30th. Truist Financial upped their price objective on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $220.00 to $225.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $199.45.

Check Point Software Technologies Price Performance

CHKP stock opened at $184.58 on Thursday. Check Point Software Technologies has a fifty-two week low of $145.75 and a fifty-two week high of $210.70. The stock has a market capitalization of $20.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.22, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $183.25 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $183.79.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $2.25 EPS for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.25. The business had revenue of $635.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $634.96 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a net margin of 33.17% and a return on equity of 31.84%. Check Point Software Technologies’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.80 earnings per share. Research analysts expect that Check Point Software Technologies will post 7.87 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Check Point Software Technologies

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. DGS Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. DGS Capital Management LLC now owns 11,809 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,277,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Check Point Software Technologies by 7.0% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 166,641 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $34,665,000 after purchasing an additional 10,861 shares during the period. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 0.8% in the third quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 111,316 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $21,463,000 after purchasing an additional 872 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC increased its holdings in Check Point Software Technologies by 3.1% in the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 40,686 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $7,845,000 after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. Finally, Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in Check Point Software Technologies during the 3rd quarter worth $187,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

About Check Point Software Technologies

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.