Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) Price Target Cut to $50.00 by Analysts at Jefferies Financial Group

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) had its target price dropped by equities researchers at Jefferies Financial Group from $60.00 to $50.00 in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has a “hold” rating on the technology company’s stock. Jefferies Financial Group’s price objective would indicate a potential upside of 10.38% from the stock’s current price.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on VRNS. Royal Bank of Canada reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price objective on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Robert W. Baird boosted their price objective on shares of Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Barclays upped their price objective on Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Finally, Wedbush reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Varonis Systems in a research report on Monday, August 26th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Varonis Systems has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $59.19.

Varonis Systems Stock Performance

VRNS stock opened at $45.30 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $51.95 and its 200 day simple moving average is $51.41. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.05. Varonis Systems has a 12-month low of $41.13 and a 12-month high of $60.58. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of -60.40 and a beta of 0.80.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $0.10 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.07 by $0.03. Varonis Systems had a negative return on equity of 17.58% and a negative net margin of 15.31%. The company had revenue of $148.07 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $141.62 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted ($0.22) earnings per share. Varonis Systems’s revenue was up 21.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Varonis Systems will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Varonis Systems

In related news, CFO Guy Melamed sold 91,345 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $53.70, for a total transaction of $4,905,226.50. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now owns 504,598 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $27,096,912.60. This represents a 15.33 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman James O’boyle sold 50,000 shares of Varonis Systems stock in a transaction on Tuesday, October 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $59.76, for a total transaction of $2,988,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 444,114 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $26,540,252.64. The trade was a 10.12 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Varonis Systems

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 9.0% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,783,873 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $100,789,000 after purchasing an additional 147,081 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Varonis Systems by 14.5% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 39,785 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,383,000 after buying an additional 5,031 shares during the period. Tidal Investments LLC purchased a new position in Varonis Systems during the third quarter worth $232,000. Virtue Capital Management LLC increased its position in Varonis Systems by 2.3% during the third quarter. Virtue Capital Management LLC now owns 16,264 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $919,000 after acquiring an additional 364 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 1.1% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,615,462 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $147,801,000 after acquiring an additional 29,050 shares during the period. 95.65% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Varonis Systems

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.