Synovus Financial Corp Has $1.65 Million Stock Position in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

Synovus Financial Corp increased its holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 61,509 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,256 shares during the period. Synovus Financial Corp’s holdings in Sapiens International were worth $1,653,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SPNS. FMR LLC raised its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 80.8% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 17,646 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $658,000 after purchasing an additional 7,887 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Sapiens International in the 3rd quarter valued at $231,000. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in Sapiens International during the 3rd quarter valued at $26,000. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Sapiens International during the 3rd quarter worth $2,255,000. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in Sapiens International by 415.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after acquiring an additional 44,033 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on SPNS. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sapiens International from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Sapiens International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $36.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price target on shares of Sapiens International in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Sapiens International currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $33.50.

Sapiens International Stock Performance

Shares of SPNS stock opened at $26.24 on Wednesday. Sapiens International Co. has a 52 week low of $23.69 and a 52 week high of $41.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.01 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $29.14. The firm has a market cap of $1.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.34 and a beta of 1.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.24.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. The firm had revenue of $134.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $135.89 million. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, April 7th will be paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Sapiens International’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 7th. This represents a dividend yield of 2.2%. Sapiens International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

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.