Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC) Short Interest Update

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. (NASDAQ:MGIC - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 216,800 shares, an increase of 28.3% from the April 30th total of 169,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 76,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 0.8% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. bought a new position in Magic Software Enterprises during the 1st quarter worth approximately $35,911,000. Phoenix Financial Ltd. raised its holdings in Magic Software Enterprises by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Phoenix Financial Ltd. now owns 689,236 shares of the software maker's stock worth $8,953,000 after purchasing an additional 9,000 shares during the last quarter. Truffle Hound Capital LLC bought a new position in Magic Software Enterprises during the 4th quarter worth approximately $5,173,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 4.2% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 240,841 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,896,000 after acquiring an additional 9,752 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Y.D. More Investments Ltd increased its stake in shares of Magic Software Enterprises by 22.1% in the 1st quarter. Y.D. More Investments Ltd now owns 174,366 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,240,000 after acquiring an additional 31,527 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 24.70% of the company's stock.

Magic Software Enterprises Stock Down 0.5%

Shares of MGIC traded down $0.08 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $16.26. 13,115 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 56,346. The company has a market cap of $798.10 million, a PE ratio of 23.22 and a beta of 0.99. Magic Software Enterprises has a 52 week low of $9.51 and a 52 week high of $16.50. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $14.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $13.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a current ratio of 1.76 and a quick ratio of 1.76.

Magic Software Enterprises (NASDAQ:MGIC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 21st. The software maker reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.25. Magic Software Enterprises had a net margin of 6.49% and a return on equity of 15.42%. The business had revenue of $147.34 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $143.80 million. On average, research analysts forecast that Magic Software Enterprises will post 0.95 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Magic Software Enterprises Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a semi-annual dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 7th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 22nd were issued a dividend of $0.327 per share. This is a positive change from Magic Software Enterprises's previous semi-annual dividend of $0.24. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 22nd. This represents a yield of 4.6%. Magic Software Enterprises's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.53%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

MGIC has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Wall Street Zen cut Magic Software Enterprises from a "strong-buy" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Saturday, May 24th. William Blair cut shares of Magic Software Enterprises from an "outperform" rating to a "market perform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Magic Software Enterprises from $15.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 13th.

Magic Software Enterprises Company Profile

Magic Software Enterprises Ltd. provides proprietary application development, vertical software solutions, business process integration, information technologies (IT) outsourcing software services, and cloud-based services in Israel and internationally. Its Software Services segment develops, markets, sells, and supports application platform, software applications, and business and process integration solutions and related services.