Blue Trust Inc. Grows Stake in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in shares of Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 171.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Sapiens International were worth $36,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of SPNS. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its holdings 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 valued at $42,168,000 after acquiring an additional 926,405 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised 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 purchasing an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in Sapiens International by 14.6% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 594,552 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,159,000 after purchasing an additional 75,866 shares in the last quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd lifted its holdings in Sapiens International by 13.9% in the 4th quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 234,297 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,338,000 after purchasing an additional 28,512 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,878 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $6,630,000 after purchasing an additional 32,780 shares during the last quarter. 30.73% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Sapiens International Trading Down 1.5 %

SPNS opened at $27.57 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.54 billion, a PE ratio of 21.37 and a beta of 1.16. Sapiens International Co. has a one year low of $25.01 and a one year high of $41.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a current ratio of 2.24. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $26.73 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.33.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last announced its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $134.31 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.89 million. Sapiens International had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

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.