SAP (NYSE:SAP) Downgraded by StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of SAP (NYSE:SAP) from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating in a report issued on Thursday.

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

SAP Trading Down 1.6 %

Shares of NYSE SAP opened at $175.77 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.40 and a quick ratio of 1.40. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $187.15 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.38. SAP has a 52 week low of $126.40 and a 52 week high of $199.29.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, January 23rd. The software maker reported $1.12 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.29 by ($0.17). SAP had a return on equity of 9.54% and a net margin of 20.30%. The company had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.98 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SAP will post 4.77 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SAP

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its position in shares of SAP by 364.7% during the first quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 113,250 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $12,567,000 after purchasing an additional 88,881 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of SAP by 6.0% during the first quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 21,703 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,408,000 after purchasing an additional 1,229 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC raised its position in shares of SAP by 38.1% during the first quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 2,630 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $292,000 after purchasing an additional 726 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of SAP by 1.5% during the first quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 106,983 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $11,871,000 after purchasing an additional 1,622 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of SAP by 6.0% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 129,904 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $14,431,000 after purchasing an additional 7,407 shares during the period.

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.