Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stock Position in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. cut its holdings in shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 519,101 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 92,471 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in SAP were worth $127,808,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in SAP. Americana Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of SAP by 205.0% in the fourth quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 15,177 shares of the software maker's stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 10,201 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC bought a new position in SAP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,000. Allworth Financial LP increased its stake in SAP by 33.4% in the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,713 shares of the software maker's stock worth $741,000 after purchasing an additional 680 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC bought a new stake in SAP in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $4,850,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. boosted its stake in shares of SAP by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,783 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $2,162,000 after purchasing an additional 1,062 shares during the period.

SAP Trading Down 1.8 %

SAP stock traded down $5.06 during trading on Friday, reaching $282.87. The company had a trading volume of 1,105,122 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,028,502. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.10. SAP SE has a 52 week low of $175.08 and a 52 week high of $293.70. The business has a 50 day moving average of $265.30 and a 200 day moving average of $240.60. The company has a market cap of $347.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 98.56, a PEG ratio of 4.72 and a beta of 1.23.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The software maker reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.02). SAP had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 9.17%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that SAP SE will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts recently commented on SAP shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on shares of SAP from $265.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of SAP in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SAP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $240.00 to $305.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded SAP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, JMP Securities increased their price objective on SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $248.83.

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.