Stock Traders Buy High Volume of Call Options on Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS)

Varonis Systems, Inc. (NASDAQ:VRNS) was the target of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock traders acquired 4,719 call options on the company. This represents an increase of 524% compared to the average daily volume of 756 call options.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Varonis Systems

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in shares of Varonis Systems in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Johnson Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in Varonis Systems in the 4th quarter worth $61,000. Transce3nd LLC purchased a new stake in Varonis Systems in the 4th quarter worth $62,000. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Varonis Systems during the fourth quarter valued at about $70,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. lifted its position in shares of Varonis Systems by 100,200.0% in the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 2,006 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $81,000 after acquiring an additional 2,004 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 95.65% of the company’s stock.

Varonis Systems Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ:VRNS opened at $45.47 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $41.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $45.22. The company has a quick ratio of 1.24, a current ratio of 1.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.09 billion, a PE ratio of -52.87 and a beta of 0.79. Varonis Systems has a twelve month low of $36.53 and a twelve month high of $60.58.

Varonis Systems (NASDAQ:VRNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 6th. The technology company reported ($0.31) EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of ($0.05) by ($0.26). Varonis Systems had a negative return on equity of 20.35% and a negative net margin of 17.38%. The company had revenue of $136.42 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $133.10 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned ($0.03) earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 19.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Varonis Systems will post -0.83 EPS for the current year.

Varonis Systems announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Monday, February 10th that permits the company to repurchase $100.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the technology company to purchase up to 2.1% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently weighed in on VRNS. Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $67.00 target price on shares of Varonis Systems in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Wolfe Research raised Varonis Systems from a “peer perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $50.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Wells Fargo & Company lowered their price target on Varonis Systems from $48.00 to $46.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 5th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Varonis Systems from $54.00 to $46.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Varonis Systems from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday, April 28th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, thirteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $55.06.

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.