Traders Purchase Large Volume of Put Options on SAP (NYSE:SAP)

SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Thursday. Stock traders purchased 5,752 put options on the stock. This represents an increase of 599% compared to the average daily volume of 823 put options.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of SAP from $252.00 to $275.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. TD Cowen increased their target price on SAP from $234.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities increased their price objective on SAP from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus upgraded shares of SAP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 31st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of SAP from $248.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $252.33.

SAP Price Performance

Shares of SAP stock traded up $3.71 on Thursday, reaching $238.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,359,772 shares, compared to its average volume of 796,711. SAP has a 1 year low of $130.63 and a 1 year high of $238.48. The company has a market capitalization of $292.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 95.24, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.42 and a beta of 1.25. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $222.71 and its 200-day simple moving average is $204.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, October 21st. The software maker reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.31 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $8.47 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.25 billion. SAP had a net margin of 8.15% and a return on equity of 11.39%. SAP's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.20 EPS. Analysts forecast that SAP will post 4.83 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SAP

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. LRI Investments LLC acquired a new stake in SAP during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Godsey & Gibb Inc. acquired a new position in SAP in the third quarter valued at approximately $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC grew its stake in shares of SAP by 892.3% during the 2nd quarter. POM Investment Strategies LLC now owns 129 shares of the software maker's stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 116 shares during the period. Crewe Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 1,270.0% in the 2nd quarter. Crewe Advisors LLC now owns 137 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $28,000 after purchasing an additional 127 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in SAP during the first quarter worth $29,000.

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.