Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Short Interest Up 24.9% in November

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 355,200 shares, a growth of 24.9% from the October 31st total of 284,300 shares. Currently, 1.2% of the company’s shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 117,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Sapiens International Stock Up 0.5 %

Sapiens International stock traded up $0.13 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.33. The stock had a trading volume of 118,170 shares, compared to its average volume of 132,054. Sapiens International has a 1-year low of $25.30 and a 1-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 2.18. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $34.12 and its 200-day simple moving average is $34.99. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.52 and a beta of 1.25.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last released its earnings results on Monday, November 11th. The technology company reported $0.37 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by ($0.01). Sapiens International had a net margin of 13.23% and a return on equity of 17.61%. The business had revenue of $137.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $140.10 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.32 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Sapiens International will post 1.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on SPNS. StockNews.com cut Sapiens International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Sapiens International from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Sapiens International from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, August 2nd. Finally, Needham & Company LLC decreased their price target on shares of Sapiens International from $44.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th.

Institutional Trading of Sapiens International

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Sapiens International by 2.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 1,036,915 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $35,183,000 after purchasing an additional 25,623 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 14.6% in the 2nd quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 681,004 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $23,106,000 after buying an additional 87,001 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 1,679 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 14.6% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 594,552 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,159,000 after buying an additional 75,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new position in Sapiens International during the second quarter worth $16,616,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

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.