SAP (NYSE:SAP) Upgraded to "Buy" at Kepler Capital Markets

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by Kepler Capital Markets from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a note issued to investors on Wednesday, MarketBeat reports.

Several other research firms have also recently issued reports on SAP. JMP Securities increased their target price on SAP from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of SAP from $248.00 to $265.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. TD Cowen raised their target price on shares of SAP from $234.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of SAP from $252.00 to $275.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and ten have given a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $252.33.

SAP Stock Performance

SAP traded up $8.16 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $261.66. The company had a trading volume of 1,026,539 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,017,204. SAP has a 1 year low of $155.82 and a 1 year high of $261.98. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.17. The company has a market cap of $321.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.66, a P/E/G ratio of 4.94 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average of $244.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $226.99.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, October 21st. The software maker reported $1.23 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.31 by ($0.08). The firm had revenue of $8.47 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.25 billion. SAP had a return on equity of 11.44% and a net margin of 8.15%. The company's revenue was up 9.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.20 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that SAP will post 4.8 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in SAP. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 22.3% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 10,246,279 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,347,422,000 after purchasing an additional 1,866,468 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in SAP in the third quarter worth $40,573,000. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. boosted its stake in SAP by 644.9% during the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 164,330 shares of the software maker's stock worth $37,648,000 after buying an additional 142,270 shares during the period. Marshall Wace LLP bought a new position in SAP during the second quarter valued at $21,479,000. Finally, Mediolanum International Funds Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of SAP in the third quarter valued at $17,376,000.

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.