Is Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) the right investment to pursue these days? Investors who are in the know are becoming hopeful. The number of bullish hedge fund bets moved up by 1 lately.
In the financial world, there are dozens of gauges investors can use to watch the equity markets. A pair of the best are hedge fund and insider trading interest. At Insider Monkey, our research analyses have shown that, historically, those who follow the best picks of the elite fund managers can trounce the market by a solid margin (see just how much).
Just as beneficial, bullish insider trading activity is another way to break down the marketplace. Obviously, there are a variety of motivations for an executive to get rid of shares of his or her company, but only one, very obvious reason why they would initiate a purchase. Many academic studies have demonstrated the impressive potential of this tactic if piggybackers understand where to look (learn more here).
Now, it’s important to take a glance at the key action regarding Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP).
What have hedge funds been doing with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)?
At the end of the fourth quarter, a total of 27 of the hedge funds we track were long in this stock, a change of 4% from the previous quarter. With the smart money’s positions undergoing their usual ebb and flow, there exists a few key hedge fund managers who were upping their holdings substantially.
Of the funds we track, Thomas Steyer’s Farallon Capital had the biggest position in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP), worth close to $127 million, comprising 2.9% of its total 13F portfolio. Sitting at the No. 2 spot is Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, which held a $52 million position; 0.9% of its 13F portfolio is allocated to the company. Remaining hedge funds that are bullish include Martin D. Sass’s MD Sass, Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital and Daniel Bubis’s Tetrem Capital Management.
As aggregate interest increased, some big names have jumped into Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) headfirst. Iridian Asset Management, managed by David Cohen and Harold Levy, created the most outsized position in Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP). Iridian Asset Management had 52 million invested in the company at the end of the quarter. Thomas E. Claugus’s GMT Capital also made a $23 million investment in the stock during the quarter. The following funds were also among the new CHKP investors: Clint Carlson’s Carlson Capital, SAC Subsidiary’s CR Intrinsic Investors, and John Thaler’s JAT Capital Management.
What have insiders been doing with Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP)?
Insider buying is best served when the primary stock in question has seen transactions within the past six months. Over the latest six-month time frame, Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) has experienced zero unique insiders buying, and zero insider sales (see the details of insider trades here).
With the results exhibited by the aforementioned time-tested strategies, retail investors must always watch hedge fund and insider trading sentiment, and Check Point Software Technologies Ltd. (NASDAQ:CHKP) applies perfectly to this mantra.
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