Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

Shares of Radware Ltd. (NASDAQ:RDWR) gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $26.26, but opened at $24.71. Radware shares last traded at $25.1260, with a volume of 6,935 shares traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on RDWR. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Radware from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, January 31st. Jefferies Financial Group set a $25.00 target price on shares of Radware in a research report on Tuesday, December 16th. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of Radware in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has given a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Radware has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.00.

Radware Price Performance

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.68 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $24.85. The company has a market capitalization of $1.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 53.80 and a beta of 0.95.

Radware (NASDAQ:RDWR) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 11th. The information technology services provider reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.30 by $0.02. The business had revenue of $80.25 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $78.65 million. Radware had a net margin of 6.71% and a return on equity of 7.21%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Radware Ltd. will post 0.28 EPS for the current year.

Radware announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback program on Friday, February 13th that authorizes the company to repurchase $80.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the information technology services provider to repurchase up to 7.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Radware

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Simplex Trading LLC lifted its position in Radware by 51.4% in the 4th quarter. Simplex Trading LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $37,000 after purchasing an additional 524 shares during the last quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC grew its position in Radware by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. Squarepoint Ops LLC now owns 12,308 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 527 shares during the last quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA grew its position in Radware by 47.8% in the 4th quarter. Towarzystwo Funduszy Inwestycyjnych PZU SA now owns 1,700 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 550 shares during the last quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Radware by 8.7% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 8,403 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $202,000 after purchasing an additional 672 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Radware by 0.9% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 84,863 shares of the information technology services provider’s stock valued at $2,043,000 after buying an additional 772 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 73.12% of the company’s stock.

Radware Company Profile

Radware Ltd. provides cybersecurity and application delivery solutions designed to ensure the availability, performance and security of mission‐critical applications. Its product portfolio includes on‐premises and cloud‐based offerings such as Alteon application delivery controllers, DefensePro network behavior analysis for DDoS mitigation and AppWall web application firewall. The company’s platforms use real‐time behavioral analysis, machine learning and automation to protect against distributed denial‐of‐service attacks, application layer threats and network intrusions.

Founded in 1997, Radware is co-headquartered in Tel Aviv, Israel, with a principal U.S.