Aviva PLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

Aviva PLC cut its holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS – Get Rating) by 28.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 54,100 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 21,886 shares during the period. Aviva PLC owned about 0.10% of Sapiens International worth $1,000,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its position in Sapiens International by 402.5% during the third quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 6,508 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $124,000 after acquiring an additional 5,213 shares during the last quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA raised its position in shares of Sapiens International by 21.6% during the 2nd quarter. BNP Paribas Arbitrage SA now owns 7,046 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $170,000 after purchasing an additional 1,253 shares during the last quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC lifted its stake in Sapiens International by 103.2% in the 3rd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 8,554 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $164,000 after buying an additional 4,345 shares in the last quarter. USS Investment Management Ltd acquired a new stake in Sapiens International during the 1st quarter valued at $22,861,000. Finally, Westwood Holdings Group Inc. purchased a new position in Sapiens International during the first quarter worth $228,000. 23.42% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

SPNS has been the topic of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group reduced their price objective on Sapiens International from $28.00 to $26.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, February 21st. StockNews.com began coverage on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Thursday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Barclays downgraded shares of Sapiens International from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, May 5th. Finally, Needham & Company LLC upped their price objective on shares of Sapiens International from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 22nd. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sapiens International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.80.

Sapiens International Stock Performance

Shares of SPNS stock opened at $24.13 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09, a quick ratio of 1.93 and a current ratio of 1.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.40 and a beta of 1.26. Sapiens International Co. has a one year low of $16.18 and a one year high of $26.66. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $21.34 and a 200 day moving average price of $20.50.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS – Get Rating) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, February 21st. The technology company reported $0.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.32 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $119.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $120.86 million. Sapiens International had a return on equity of 16.16% and a net margin of 10.97%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up .2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Sapiens International Cuts Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a — dividend, which was paid on Monday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 10th were issued a $0.25 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 6th. This represents a yield of 4.5%. Sapiens International’s dividend payout ratio is currently 58.95%.

Sapiens International Company Profile

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Sapiens International Corp. NV provides software solutions for the insurance industry. It offers core, end-to-end solutions to the global general insurance, property and casualty, life, pension and annuities, reinsurance and retirement markets, as well as business decision management software. The company was founded by Joseph Bolless and Ron Zuckerman in 1982 and is headquartered in Holon, Israel.