LPL Financial LLC Boosts Position in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 17.0% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 68,255 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,917 shares during the period. LPL Financial LLC’s holdings in Sapiens International were worth $1,742,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 451.9% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 1,131,426 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $42,168,000 after purchasing an additional 926,405 shares in the last quarter. Royce & Associates LP raised its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 65.7% during the 4th quarter. Royce & Associates LP now owns 932,703 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $25,062,000 after buying an additional 369,947 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 100.8% during 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 buying an additional 77,219 shares during the period. Seizert Capital Partners LLC lifted its position in Sapiens International by 47.8% during the 4th quarter. Seizert Capital Partners LLC now owns 189,365 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $5,088,000 after acquiring an additional 61,200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio purchased a new position in Sapiens International in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $2,255,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Sapiens International Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NASDAQ SPNS opened at $26.03 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.18, a current ratio of 2.24 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. Sapiens International Co. has a 12 month low of $23.69 and a 12 month high of $41.22. The company has a market cap of $1.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18 and a beta of 1.10. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $26.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $29.12.

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

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were given a dividend of $0.66 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. This represents a yield of 2.2%. This is a boost from Sapiens International’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. Sapiens International’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.51%.

Sapiens International 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.