Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Position in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) by 5.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,685,105 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 98,768 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Varonis Systems were worth $74,869,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 66.4% during the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 24,265 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $1,371,000 after buying an additional 9,681 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its stake in shares of Varonis Systems by 14.7% during the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 350,470 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $19,802,000 after purchasing an additional 44,826 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 5,550.0% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares during the last quarter. Semanteon Capital Management LP purchased a new stake in shares of Varonis Systems in the third quarter valued at $1,121,000. Finally, AMI Asset Management Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Varonis Systems in the third quarter valued at $485,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 95.65% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

VRNS has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson reduced their target price on Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, December 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Thursday, January 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective on the stock. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Varonis Systems from $63.00 to $70.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $65.00 price target on shares of Varonis Systems in a research note on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Varonis Systems from $57.00 to $46.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Five research 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $59.38.

Varonis Systems Stock Down 1.5 %

NASDAQ VRNS opened at $43.55 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. Varonis Systems, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $39.62 and a fifty-two week high of $60.58. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $44.71 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $50.81. The stock has a market cap of $4.90 billion, a PE ratio of -50.64 and a beta of 0.83.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share 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%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Varonis Systems, Inc. will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Varonis Systems Company 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.