Varonis Systems Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Investors purchased 4,051 put options on the company. This is an increase of 206% compared to the average volume of 1,325 put options.

Key Stories Impacting Varonis Systems

Here are the key news stories impacting Varonis Systems this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Q4 results beat consensus and showed accelerating SaaS/ARR momentum, supporting the company’s cloud transition story. Analysts and coverage notes point to improving subscription growth as a longer-term positive. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: Varonis completed a strategic AI/technology acquisition (AllTrue.ai reportedly valued at ~$150M), which could accelerate product differentiation and AI-driven upsell opportunities for its SaaS platform. Read More.
• Positive Sentiment: One shop (DA Davidson) upgraded the stock to “buy” with a $30 target, signaling some buy-side faith that recent weakness may offer a recovery entry. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple major analysts trimmed price targets after the earnings report (JPMorgan, Cantor Fitzgerald, Citigroup, Wedbush, B. Riley, Truist, Needham, etc.). Many kept constructive ratings (buy/overweight) but lowered targets, creating mixed near-term sentiment despite continued longer-term upside in some models. Read More.
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings guidance and margin commentary appear to have been read as conservative by some investors: top-line SaaS momentum is positive, but margin pressure during the transition keeps near-term profitability unclear. (See earnings call transcript and coverage for details.) Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: A broad wave of securities-law firm notices and at least one filed class action allege the company misled investors about its SaaS transition; multiple firms are soliciting lead plaintiffs with a March 9, 2026 deadline — this increases litigation risk and can pressure the stock and management focus. Read More. | Read More.
• Negative Sentiment: Market positioning turned defensive after the report: unusually large put-option volume and heavy share trading indicate short-term bearish bets and hedging activity, amplifying downside pressure. (Put activity spike reported on Feb. 4.)

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Varonis Systems in a research note on Tuesday, December 30th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $40.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and issued a $41.00 price objective (down previously from $44.00) on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Monday, January 26th. Piper Sandler upgraded Varonis Systems from a “neutral” rating to an “overweight” rating and raised their target price for the stock from $45.00 to $47.00 in a report on Monday, January 5th. Robert W. Baird lowered Varonis Systems from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, October 29th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price target on Varonis Systems from $50.00 to $45.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, January 5th. Sixteen research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, five have assigned a Hold rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Varonis Systems presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $45.25.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of VRNS. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new position in shares of Varonis Systems during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,496,000. Yorktown Management & Research Co Inc bought a new position in Varonis Systems in the 2nd quarter valued at about $302,000. VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al bought a new position in shares of Varonis Systems during the second quarter worth approximately $418,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its position in Varonis Systems by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 293,083 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $14,874,000 after buying an additional 10,100 shares during the period. Finally, Capital Fund Management S.A. increased its position in Varonis Systems by 31.0% during the second quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 306,695 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $15,565,000 after acquiring an additional 72,657 shares during the period. 95.65% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Varonis Systems Stock Performance

Shares of VRNS stock opened at $22.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 1.81 and a current ratio of 1.81. Varonis Systems has a 52 week low of $20.06 and a 52 week high of $63.90. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $32.62 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $45.45. The company has a market capitalization of $2.62 billion, a P/E ratio of -19.48 and a beta of 0.58.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 3rd. The technology company reported $0.08 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.03 by $0.05. Varonis Systems had a negative net margin of 20.74% and a negative return on equity of 25.05%. The company had revenue of $173.37 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $168.66 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.18 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Varonis Systems has set its FY 2026 guidance at 0.060-0.100 EPS and its Q1 2026 guidance at -0.060–0.050 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Varonis Systems will post -0.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Varonis Systems Company Profile

Varonis Systems is a cybersecurity firm specializing in the protection and management of unstructured data. The company’s flagship Data Security Platform provides advanced analytics for monitoring file systems, email servers, collaboration platforms and cloud storage. By continuously mapping and analyzing data permissions and user behavior, Varonis enables organizations to detect insider threats, verify compliance and remediate exposed data in real time.

Founded in 2005 and headquartered in New York City, Varonis serves a diverse global customer base across financial services, healthcare, media, manufacturing and government.