Table of ContentsHow efficient are markets? Given your position, how do you, as a mid-sized equity manager, allocate capital? Please analyze any company in the S&P MidCap 400 and provide a buy or sell recommendation with a price target. Your response should include a one-page investment thesis, rationale, and some form of valuation work. Investment Thesis How efficient are markets? Given your position, how do you, as a mid-sized equity manager, allocate capital? Markets are not completely efficient because investors can identify patterns and invest according to those patterns to beat the market. Although close to efficient, markets are only approximations of rational action. Markets are too volatile to represent total rationality; Market price increases often occur around earnings and other company announcements and exceed changes expected from a purely financial perspective. Thus, markets incorporate the irrationality of human emotions into pricing and are therefore themselves inefficient. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Assuming markets are inefficient, there are opportunities for investors to exploit trends and make money. In today's market, as a mid-sized stock manager, I would be extremely aggressive in the short term to maximize profits. Over the next few years, I expect the S&P 500 to fall to around $2,500. Therefore, I would liquidate my holdings within a year of my initial investment, wait for the market to fall, and then reinvest in a different asset allocation at a lower market price. Today, I would invest 60% of my portfolio in telecommunications equipment. sector and 40% in the software sector as I would liquidate my assets shortly after the US deployment of 5G wireless communication. Ciena Corp. (CIEN) and LogMeIn Inc. (LOGM) are examples of stocks in both sectors whose prices would increase with the deployment of 5G. The four major US mobile operators (Verizon, AT&T, Sprint, T-Mobile) are aiming for a massive 5G deployment between late 2018 and early 2019. So, I would invest now and liquidate all my holdings once 5G is available. commercially available. Please analyze any company in the S&P MidCap 400 and provide a buy or sell recommendation with a price target. Your response should include a one-page investment thesis, rationale, and some form of valuation work. Company Overview: CyberArk (CYBR) is a privileged access security company focused on protecting enterprise data, networks and infrastructure from malicious actors. CyberArk protects the critical assets of more than 50% of Fortune 100 companies. Their enterprise platform includes both security and risk management services, to thwart all potential attack vectors, as well as services audit and compliance, to ensure that data is processed in accordance with local laws and regulations. Based in Israel and with U.S. headquarters in Newton, Massachusetts, CyberArk counts many federal agencies among its clients. They are listed on NASDAQ:CYBR, as of September 19, closed at $72.73 and have a market capitalization of $2.64 billion. Cyber ​​Ark investment thesis is currentlyundervalued, so now is a great time to buy and hold until CYBR reaches a target price of $82.84. The three catalysts below will increase Cyber ​​Ark's price by 13.9% to $82.84 over the next three years. is experiencing a period of consolidation. Larger companies have acquired various smaller companies in an attempt to position themselves as comprehensive security service providers. Typically, an enterprise acquires a number of PAM (Privilege and Access Management), SIEM (Security and Information Event Management), CASB (Cloud Access SecurityBroker) and MFA (Multifactor Authentication) and combines them under a single platform to provide a smoother customer experience. Take Cisco for example, a giant in the CASB space. Last month, Cisco acquired Duo Security for $2.35 billion, a PAM and MFA company. In February this year, Cisco acquired Skyport Systems to strengthen its CASB-SIEM interoperability. Last year, Cisco acquired AppDynamics for $3.7 billion to complement its SIEM technology. This consolidation pattern has also been a recurring theme at other companies, such as Bomgar, Splunk, and KPMG. This market consolidation presents unique opportunities for Cyber ​​Ark. They could be acquired or merged with another company. IBM, Microsoft, Amazon and Lockheed Martin are all companies potentially interested in Cyber ​​Ark if they are looking to expand their PAM offerings. In terms of timing, these types of companies will most likely acquire Cyber ​​Ark within the next three years, before Cyber ​​Ark becomes too expensive. Even if Cyber ​​Ark is not acquired or merged with another company, this market consolidation has eliminated most of its competitors through acquisitions by larger companies. Cyber ​​Ark can now carve out a niche market for itself and be relatively insulated from competition because these large companies will not devote the time or resources to challenge Cyber ​​Ark's market control. Thus, consolidation in the enterprise cybersecurity market could potentially benefit Cyber ​​Ark, especially over the next three years. Product Innovation Due to Increasing Government Spending on Cybersecurity: Governments around the world account for a significant percentage of spending in the cybersecurity market. . The U.S. government alone accounted for 2% of the global cybersecurity market last year. In 2007, the U.S. government spent $7.5 billion on cybersecurity; in 2016, this amount increased to $28 billion. Going forward, government spending on cybersecurity will only increase as technology becomes more ubiquitous and the number of malicious actors increases. Cybersecurity requires constant attention, which means defense departments will continue to pay billions to ensure their critical assets are protected. Many underdeveloped foreign countries still have a long way to go to improve their cybersecurity posture, which will lead to a further increase in cybersecurity spending. Cyber ​​Ark is uniquely positioned to benefit from this rise in global government spending. Cyber ​​Ark currently counts many governments and government agencies among its customers. These relationships will be extremely valuable as governments increase their spending in the cybersecurity market. Cyber ​​Ark currently offers single-platform authentication services for government agencies, ensuring maximum security while preserving..