Cerity Partners LLC Raises Position in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) by 34.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 35,405 shares of the software maker’s stock after buying an additional 9,144 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in SAP were worth $5,473,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 12.6% during the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,060 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $628,000 after purchasing an additional 453 shares during the last quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 130.2% during the fourth quarter. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC now owns 20,857 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,224,000 after purchasing an additional 11,796 shares during the last quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 539 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 163 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of SAP during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $17,255,000. Finally, Bleakley Financial Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Bleakley Financial Group LLC now owns 21,157 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 1,780 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on SAP shares. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SAP from $189.00 to $212.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, February 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price target on shares of SAP from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 26th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of SAP from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 10th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, SAP currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $193.80.

SAP Trading Up 0.2 %

SAP opened at $180.61 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 1.40. SAP SE has a fifty-two week low of $126.40 and a fifty-two week high of $199.29. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $187.35 and its 200 day moving average is $163.33.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The software maker reported $1.12 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.17). SAP had a net margin of 20.30% and a return on equity of 9.54%. The firm had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.98 billion. Research analysts forecast that SAP SE will post 4.36 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a dividend of $2.3852 per share. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.19. SAP’s dividend payout ratio is 27.71%.

About SAP

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.