Short Interest in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Expands By 28.7%

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of February. As of February 28th, there was short interest totalling 248,300 shares, a growth of 28.7% from the February 13th total of 193,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 185,100 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.3 days. Approximately 0.8% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $35.00 target price on shares of Sapiens International in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Sapiens International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $36.00 to $28.00 in a report on Monday, February 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Sapiens International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Sapiens International from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sapiens International in a report on Friday, December 6th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sapiens International has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $33.50.

Sapiens International Price Performance

Shares of NASDAQ SPNS traded up $0.12 on Monday, hitting $27.78. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 31,396 shares, compared to its average volume of 190,986. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $26.83 and a 200-day moving average of $30.61. The company has a market capitalization of $1.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.49 and a beta of 1.16. Sapiens International has a 12-month low of $25.01 and a 12-month high of $41.22.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.36 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.37 by ($0.01). Sapiens International had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 13.31%. The firm had revenue of $134.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.89 million. As a group, research analysts predict that Sapiens International will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Sapiens International

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in SPNS. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings in Sapiens International by 451.9% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,131,426 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $42,168,000 after buying an additional 926,405 shares during the period. Topline Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Sapiens International in the fourth quarter worth $24,147,000. Royce & Associates LP raised its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 65.7% in the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 932,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,062,000 after acquiring an additional 369,947 shares during the period. Nine Ten Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Sapiens International by 17.0% during the 4th quarter. Nine Ten Capital Management LLC now owns 1,074,291 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $28,866,000 after purchasing an additional 155,880 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its holdings in Sapiens International by 100.8% in the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 153,852 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $4,134,000 after purchasing an additional 77,219 shares in the last quarter. 30.73% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Sapiens International

Sapiens International Corporation N.V. provides software solutions for the insurance industry in North America, the United Kingdom, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, the Asia Pacific, and internationally. The company provides various solutions for property and casualty commercial and personal lines, life and pensions, and reinsurance fields.