StockNews.com Upgrades SAP (NYSE:SAP) to “Strong-Buy”

by · The Cerbat Gem

StockNews.com upgraded shares of SAP (NYSE:SAP – Free Report) from a buy rating to a strong-buy rating in a report released on Wednesday morning.

A number of other research firms have also issued reports on SAP. KeyCorp assumed coverage on SAP in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an overweight rating for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of SAP from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Jefferies Financial Group upgraded shares of SAP from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of SAP from $189.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an overweight rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on SAP from $147.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a market perform rating in a research report on Thursday, January 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, SAP has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $193.80.

View Our Latest Research Report on SAP

SAP Trading Down 2.6 %

SAP opened at $180.78 on Wednesday. SAP has a 1 year low of $126.40 and a 1 year high of $199.29. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $187.24 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.36. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40.

SAP (NYSE:SAP – Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 23rd. The software maker reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.29 by ($0.17). SAP had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 20.30%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. Analysts forecast that SAP will post 4.36 EPS for the current year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Stockholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be given a dividend of $2.3852 per share. This is a boost from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.19. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. SAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 27.71%.

Institutional Trading of SAP

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of SAP. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of SAP in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Adirondack Trust Co. increased its stake in SAP by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 199 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC acquired a new stake in shares of SAP during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of SAP in the 4th quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, LM Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of SAP in the 4th quarter valued at about $32,000.

SAP Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

SAP SE, together with its subsidiaries, provides applications, technology, and services worldwide. It offers SAP S/4HANA that provides software capabilities for finance, risk and project management, procurement, manufacturing, supply chain and asset management, and research and development; SAP SuccessFactors solutions for human resources, including HR and payroll, talent and employee experience management, and people and workforce analytics; and spend management solutions that covers direct and indirect spend, travel and expense, and external workforce management.

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