Short Interest in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) Increases By 24.9%

Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) was the target of a large growth in short interest during 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. Approximately 1.2% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 117,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Sapiens International in the second quarter valued at approximately $16,616,000. Y.D. More Investments Ltd bought a new position in Sapiens International in the 2nd quarter valued at $6,915,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Sapiens International in the 2nd quarter valued at $3,339,000. Renaissance Technologies LLC raised its position in shares of Sapiens International by 14.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 681,004 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $23,106,000 after acquiring an additional 87,001 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 14.6% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 594,552 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $22,159,000 after acquiring an additional 75,866 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

SPNS has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price objective on Sapiens International from $44.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, November 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Sapiens International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays cut their price target on Sapiens International from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Sapiens International from $38.00 to $43.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, August 2nd.

Sapiens International Stock Performance

SPNS traded up $0.13 on Friday, hitting $27.33. 118,170 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 132,054. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $34.12 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $34.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.52 and a beta of 1.25. Sapiens International has a 52 week low of $25.30 and a 52 week high of $41.22.

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

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.