MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS)

MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in Sapiens International Co. (NASDAQ:SPNS) by 7.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 18,535 shares of the technology company’s stock after buying an additional 1,263 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Sapiens International were worth $498,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of SPNS. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Sapiens International by 415.1% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 54,640 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $2,036,000 after purchasing an additional 44,033 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its holdings in Sapiens International by 5.1% during the third quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 32,472 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,210,000 after buying an additional 1,585 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Sapiens International by 7.7% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 19,540 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $700,000 after buying an additional 1,391 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Sapiens International by 22.6% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 177,878 shares of the technology company’s stock valued at $6,630,000 after acquiring an additional 32,780 shares during the period. Finally, Annex Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Sapiens International by 47.2% during the 4th quarter. Annex Advisory Services LLC now owns 72,491 shares of the technology company’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 23,249 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 30.73% of the company’s stock.

Sapiens International Stock Performance

NASDAQ:SPNS opened at $28.20 on Tuesday. Sapiens International Co. has a 1-year low of $23.69 and a 1-year high of $41.22. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $28.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.58 billion, a PE ratio of 21.86 and a beta of 1.10. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Sapiens International had a return on equity of 17.42% and a net margin of 13.31%. The business had revenue of $134.31 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $135.89 million. On average, equities analysts expect that Sapiens International Co. will post 1.42 EPS for the current year.

Sapiens International Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, April 7th were paid a dividend of $0.66 per share. This is an increase from Sapiens International’s previous semi-annual dividend of $0.22. This represents a yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 7th. Sapiens International’s payout ratio is currently 46.51%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on SPNS shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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 report on Monday, February 3rd. Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Finally, Needham & Company LLC restated a “buy” rating and set a $35.00 target price on shares of Sapiens International in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Sapiens International presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $33.50.

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.