HighTower Advisors LLC Purchases New Stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund purchased 8,221 shares of the technology company’s stock, valued at approximately $365,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in VRNS. Citigroup Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 88.4% during the third quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 105,429 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,957,000 after acquiring an additional 49,472 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Varonis Systems by 57.9% during the 3rd quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 10,220 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $577,000 after purchasing an additional 3,747 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets boosted its stake in Varonis Systems by 31.7% in the 3rd quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 81,191 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,587,000 after purchasing an additional 19,561 shares during the period. Captrust Financial Advisors grew its holdings in Varonis Systems by 11.3% in the 3rd quarter. Captrust Financial Advisors now owns 8,263 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $467,000 after buying an additional 837 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Atom Investors LP bought a new position in Varonis Systems during the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. 95.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Varonis Systems Price Performance

VRNS stock opened at $40.45 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $4.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -47.03 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.24 and a quick ratio of 1.24. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $42.64 and a 200 day simple moving average of $48.22. Varonis Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.11 and a 1 year high of $60.58.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported ($0.10) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.14 by ($0.24). Varonis Systems had a negative net margin of 17.38% and a negative return on equity of 20.35%. Research analysts anticipate that Varonis Systems, Inc. will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Varonis Systems announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase program on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson reduced their target price on shares of Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Varonis Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their target price on shares of Varonis Systems from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on Varonis Systems in a research note on Tuesday, March 18th. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $45.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $58.53.

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.