Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Short Interest Up 28.7% in February

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. FMR LLC grew its position in Sapiens International by 80.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,646 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $658,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares during the period. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank grew its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 74.4% in the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 16,463 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $614,000 after acquiring an additional 7,022 shares in the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sapiens International in the 3rd quarter valued at about $231,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Sapiens International by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 603,429 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,490,000 after buying an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 594,552 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $22,159,000 after buying an additional 75,866 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Sapiens International Stock Performance

Shares of Sapiens International stock opened at $27.75 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.51 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 2.24, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $26.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $30.49. Sapiens International has a 1-year low of $25.01 and a 1-year high of $41.22.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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

Sapiens International Company Profile

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.