Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Sapiens International (NASDAQ:SPNS) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report issued on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. Jefferies Financial Group currently has $28.00 price objective on the technology company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $36.00.

SPNS has been the topic of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC dropped their price target on Sapiens International from $44.00 to $35.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. William Blair reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Sapiens International in a research note on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com lowered Sapiens International from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Sapiens International from $38.00 to $30.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, November 12th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sapiens International has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $34.00.

Sapiens International Trading Up 1.3 %

NASDAQ:SPNS opened at $27.05 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.51 billion, a PE ratio of 21.30 and a beta of 1.16. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $26.96 and a 200 day moving average price of $32.41. Sapiens International has a 12-month low of $25.01 and a 12-month high of $41.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.18, a quick ratio of 2.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.04.

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Sapiens International

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of SPNS. Morgan Dempsey Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Sapiens International by 8.8% in the fourth 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. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its position in Sapiens International by 100.8% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 153,852 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $4,134,000 after buying an additional 77,219 shares during the last quarter. Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in Sapiens International in the fourth quarter worth approximately $262,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 6.5% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 10,400 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $279,000 after purchasing an additional 633 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in Sapiens International by 171.2% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,356 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 856 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

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.