Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. Raises Stock Position in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 1.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 74,096 shares of the technology company’s stock after acquiring an additional 874 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. owned about 0.13% of Sapiens International worth $1,991,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC now owns 6,635 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $178,000 after purchasing an additional 539 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Sapiens International by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $279,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI bought a new position in shares of Sapiens International during the third quarter worth $26,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Sapiens International by 171.2% during the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $36,000 after acquiring an additional 856 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Sapiens International by 7.7% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,540 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $700,000 after acquiring an additional 1,391 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented 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. William Blair reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Sapiens International from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $36.00 to $28.00 in a research note on Monday, February 3rd. Finally, Barclays lowered their target price on Sapiens International from $30.00 to $28.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Sapiens International presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Sapiens International Trading Down 1.5 %

Shares of SPNS stock opened at $27.27 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.52 billion, a PE ratio of 21.14 and a beta of 1.16. Sapiens International Co. has a 1 year low of $25.01 and a 1 year high of $41.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.17 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $30.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04, a current ratio of 2.24 and a quick ratio of 2.18.

Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, February 18th. The technology company reported $0.36 earnings per share 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 analysts’ expectations of $135.89 million. Sapiens International had a net margin of 13.31% and a return on equity of 17.42%. Research analysts predict that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

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

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.