Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) by 9.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,783,873 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 147,081 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 1.59% of Varonis Systems worth $100,789,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Varonis Systems by 445.3% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 518 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 423 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Varonis Systems by 5,550.0% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,486 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $140,000 after purchasing an additional 2,442 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 25.5% in the third 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. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd purchased a new position in Varonis Systems during the third quarter worth approximately $184,000. Finally, Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV acquired a new position in Varonis Systems during the second quarter worth $215,000. 95.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VRNS has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Barclays raised their target price on Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $65.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, October 7th. Robert W. Baird lifted their target price on shares of Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $62.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $47.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, December 12th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $48.00 to $55.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $50.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eleven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $59.19.

Insider Buying and Selling at Varonis Systems

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

Varonis Systems Price Performance

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

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The technology company reported $0.10 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.07 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $148.07 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $141.62 million. Varonis Systems had a negative return on equity of 17.58% and a negative net margin of 15.31%. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($0.22) earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Varonis Systems, Inc. will post -0.73 earnings per share for the current year.

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.