Sei Investments Co. Has $3.06 Million Holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

Sei Investments Co. lessened its stake in shares of Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 8.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 114,002 shares of the technology company’s stock after selling 10,639 shares during the quarter. Sei Investments Co. owned about 0.20% of Sapiens International worth $3,063,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in SPNS. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new stake in Sapiens International during the third quarter worth approximately $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in Sapiens International by 171.2% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Sapiens International by 8.8% during the 4th quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 6,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $178,000 after acquiring an additional 539 shares during the last quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Sapiens International by 28.6% during the fourth quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 8,108 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $218,000 after acquiring an additional 1,801 shares during the period. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Sapiens International in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Sapiens International Trading Down 3.6 %

SPNS stock opened at $26.66 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $27.27 and a 200 day moving average price of $29.88. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.49 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.67 and a beta of 1.16. Sapiens International Co. has a fifty-two week low of $25.01 and a fifty-two week high of $41.22.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last issued its quarterly 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 analyst estimates of $135.89 million. Sapiens International had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 13.31%. Analysts expect that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on SPNS. Needham & Company LLC reissued a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 price objective on shares of Sapiens International in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays lowered 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. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sapiens International in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

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.