Channing Global Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Channing Global Advisors LLC lowered its stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) by 77.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 721 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 2,416 shares during the period. Channing Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in SAP were worth $111,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in SAP. Column Capital Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of SAP by 121.0% in the third quarter. Column Capital Advisors LLC now owns 221 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SAP during the fourth quarter worth $31,000. Larson Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of SAP during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of SAP by 376.1% during the third quarter. Impact Partnership Wealth LLC now owns 319 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $41,000 after purchasing an additional 252 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parkside Financial Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of SAP by 84.7% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 338 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $52,000 after purchasing an additional 155 shares during the last quarter.

SAP Price Performance

SAP traded up $0.78 on Friday, reaching $185.87. 341,081 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 773,053. SAP SE has a twelve month low of $126.75 and a twelve month high of $199.29. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $187.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $165.42. 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 (NYSE:SAP) last posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 15.76%. The business had revenue of $9.12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $8.98 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that SAP SE will post 4.69 EPS for the current year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The company 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 dividend of $2.3852 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, May 16th. This is an increase from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.19. This represents a yield of 0.9%. SAP’s payout ratio is 34.92%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on SAP shares. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of SAP from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Friday. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of SAP from $212.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a 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 report on Friday, February 2nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of SAP from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SAP has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $206.20.

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.