William Blair Investment Management LLC Boosts Stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

William Blair Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,290,114 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 52,971 shares during the period. William Blair Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Varonis Systems were worth $101,750,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 29.5% during the 4th quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. now owns 2,645 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $118,000 after purchasing an additional 603 shares during the last quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd bought a new position in shares of Varonis Systems during the 3rd quarter valued at $184,000. KBC Group NV grew its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 25.5% during the 3rd quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,263 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $184,000 after purchasing an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Varonis Systems in the 4th quarter worth $194,000. Finally, Atom Investors LP bought a new stake in Varonis Systems in the 3rd quarter worth $224,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 95.65% of the company’s stock.

Varonis Systems Trading Up 3.6 %

Shares of NASDAQ VRNS opened at $41.45 on Tuesday. Varonis Systems, Inc. has a 1 year low of $39.11 and a 1 year high of $60.58. The stock has a market cap of $4.67 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.20 and a beta of 0.85. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $43.28 and a 200 day moving average of $49.05. 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) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 4th. The technology company reported ($0.10) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.14 by ($0.24). Varonis Systems had a negative return on equity of 20.35% and a negative net margin of 17.38%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Varonis Systems, Inc. will post -0.83 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Varonis Systems announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, February 10th that allows the company to buyback $100.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on VRNS. StockNews.com raised shares of Varonis Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, March 8th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Thursday, January 9th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price target on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 19th. Wells Fargo & Company cut their price target 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. Finally, DA Davidson cut their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, December 12th. 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, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $59.38.

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.