Cyberark Software Jumps 12% On Analyst Upgrades

Cyberark Software Ltd CYBR shares jumped nearly 12 percent Monday after a couple of investment banks talked up the company's prospects for fast growth.

The computer security company changed hands recently at $54.48, up $5.79 (11.8 percent).

Bank of America's Tal Liani estimates the company will post revenue growth of more than 30 percent this year to $135 million, and although he called it a high-risk investment, Liani launched coverage with a Buy rating and $60 target.

Merrill Lynch similarly launched coverage with a Buy and $42 price objective.

Among nine analysts following the company, five are at Hold, two are at Buy and two at Sell, while the average Wall Street price target is $46.88

Cyberark shares are up more than 80 percent from its September initial public offering.

The stock popped in February with a favorable quarterly earnings report, but then dropped back sharply earlier this month, when a group of insiders sold four million shares at $51 a piece. The company currently has about 30.5 million shares outstanding.

Liani said risks to investors include sky-high Street expectations, a 63 percent stake still held by insiders following its recent sale, and the company's premium stock price relative to its earnings.

Other factors on the cautionary side: the 41 percent of company revenue exposed to foreign exchange and market competition from vastly larger companies like International Business Machines Corp. IBM, Dell Inc. DELL and CA, Inc. CA.

But Liani figures Cyberark's technology offers unique advantage in a market driven by a "worsening threat landscape" and increasingly high cost data breaches.