Principal Financial Group Inc. Decreases Stake in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) by 1.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,723 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 353 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Check Point Software Technologies were worth $6,547,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Nemes Rush Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Capital A Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Quarry LP grew its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 100.0% during the fourth quarter. Quarry LP now owns 206 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Menard Financial Group LLC acquired a new stake in Check Point Software Technologies during the fourth quarter valued at $41,000. Finally, MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB grew its position in Check Point Software Technologies by 19.6% during the first quarter. MassMutual Private Wealth & Trust FSB now owns 336 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $77,000 after buying an additional 55 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 98.51% of the company’s stock.

Check Point Software Technologies Trading Down 0.3%

CHKP opened at $218.07 on Thursday. Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. has a 1-year low of $169.02 and a 1-year high of $234.36. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $222.43 and its 200 day simple moving average is $215.57. The stock has a market cap of $23.98 billion, a PE ratio of 28.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.64.

Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $637.80 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $635.80 million. Check Point Software Technologies had a return on equity of 32.88% and a net margin of 32.75%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $2.04 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. will post 8.61 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on CHKP. Stephens dropped their target price on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $255.00 to $229.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Compass Point set a $260.00 price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies in a research note on Thursday, March 27th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Check Point Software Technologies from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 13th. Cantor Fitzgerald raised their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $220.00 to $230.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company decreased their price target on shares of Check Point Software Technologies from $280.00 to $265.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Sixteen 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $234.24.

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.