SAP (NYSE:SAP) Shares Gap Up After Strong Earnings

Shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) gapped up prior to trading on Wednesday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $252.40, but opened at $273.63. SAP shares last traded at $274.86, with a volume of 728,263 shares trading hands.

The software maker reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12. SAP had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 9.17%. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion.

SAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.5423 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is a boost from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.39. SAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 64.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of SAP from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 15th. Royal Bank of Canada restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, January 30th. Finally, TD Cowen upgraded shares of SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $251.00.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SAP

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAP. Atomi Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of SAP by 38.9% in the fourth quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,486 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,074,000 after purchasing an additional 3,495 shares during the last quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of SAP by 208.2% in the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,367 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $4,030,000 after acquiring an additional 11,057 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 1.4% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 548,469 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $125,654,000 after purchasing an additional 7,667 shares during the last quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its position in SAP by 152.0% during the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 414,154 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $101,969,000 after purchasing an additional 249,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. grew its stake in SAP by 98.9% in the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,572 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the last quarter.

SAP Trading Up 7.5 %

The firm has a market capitalization of $333.35 billion, a PE ratio of 94.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $268.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $255.86.

SAP Company Profile

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.