Freestone Grove Partners LP Takes Position in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS - Free Report) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 10,852 shares of the technology company's stock, valued at approximately $482,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Varonis Systems during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $56,561,000. Groupama Asset Managment bought a new position in shares of Varonis Systems in the fourth quarter worth approximately $55,538,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in Varonis Systems by 761.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,125,960 shares of the technology company's stock worth $50,026,000 after purchasing an additional 995,274 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC grew its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 11,353.2% during the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 538,300 shares of the technology company's stock valued at $23,917,000 after purchasing an additional 533,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 979,769 shares of the technology company's stock worth $43,531,000 after purchasing an additional 522,075 shares during the last quarter. 95.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on VRNS. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on Varonis Systems from $55.00 to $45.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, April 28th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $60.00 target price on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Wednesday. StockNews.com upgraded Varonis Systems from a "sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Monday, April 28th. Citigroup cut their target price on Varonis Systems from $57.00 to $46.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Finally, UBS Group raised their price target on Varonis Systems from $55.00 to $60.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $55.06.

Varonis Systems Stock Performance

Shares of VRNS traded up $1.00 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $45.27. The company's stock had a trading volume of 3,213,076 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,529,697. The company has a market cap of $5.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -52.63 and a beta of 0.79. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $41.15 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $45.31. Varonis Systems, Inc. has a 52-week low of $36.53 and a 52-week high of $60.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.05) by ($0.26). The firm had revenue of $136.42 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $133.10 million. Varonis Systems had a negative net margin of 17.38% and a negative return on equity of 20.35%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 19.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Varonis Systems, Inc. will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Varonis Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to repurchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are typically a sign that the company's management believes its stock is undervalued.

Varonis Systems Profile

Varonis Systems, Inc provides software products and services that allow enterprises to manage, analyze, alert, and secure enterprise data in North America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and internationally. Its software enables enterprises to protect data stored on premises and in the cloud, including sensitive files and emails; confidential personal data belonging to customers, and patients and employees' data; financial records; source code, strategic and product plans; and other intellectual property.