Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Trims Stock Position in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC trimmed its stake in Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) by 84.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 520,093 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 2,884,407 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC owned approximately 0.46% of Varonis Systems worth $23,108,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Varonis Systems during the fourth quarter worth about $56,561,000. Groupama Asset Managment purchased a new position in Varonis Systems during the 4th quarter worth approximately $55,538,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its position in Varonis Systems by 761.6% during the fourth quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,125,960 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $50,026,000 after buying an additional 995,274 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC lifted its stake in Varonis Systems by 11,353.2% in the fourth quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 538,300 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,917,000 after buying an additional 533,600 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in shares of Varonis Systems by 114.1% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 979,769 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $43,531,000 after acquiring an additional 522,075 shares during the period. 95.65% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently commented on VRNS. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Varonis Systems from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Varonis Systems from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a research note on Friday, April 11th. Wells Fargo & Company dropped their price target on Varonis Systems from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on Varonis Systems in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $60.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Varonis Systems from $60.00 to $52.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, April 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, five have assigned a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $57.11.

Varonis Systems Price Performance

VRNS stock opened at $42.28 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $4.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -49.16 and a beta of 0.76. The company has a current ratio of 1.24, a quick ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $41.13 and a 200-day moving average of $46.10. Varonis Systems, Inc. has a 12-month low of $36.53 and a 12-month high of $60.58.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last posted its 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 return on equity of 20.35% and a negative net margin of 17.38%. As a group, equities 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 repurchase $100.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the technology company to buy up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

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.