MQS Management LLC Takes Position in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

MQS Management LLC bought a new stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor bought 2,134 shares of the software maker’s stock, valued at approximately $416,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in SAP. Capital International Investors increased its holdings in SAP by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 9,947,613 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $1,537,251,000 after buying an additional 746,386 shares during the last quarter. Westfield Capital Management Co. LP bought a new position in SAP during the first quarter worth about $58,936,000. Verity & Verity LLC bought a new position in SAP during the first quarter worth about $35,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new position in SAP during the fourth quarter worth about $17,255,000. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in SAP by 21.2% during the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 621,417 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $121,195,000 after purchasing an additional 108,729 shares during the period.

SAP Stock Performance

Shares of SAP stock traded up $1.41 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $210.81. 1,368,295 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 781,460. The company has a current ratio of 1.25, a quick ratio of 1.25 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18. SAP SE has a 12-month low of $126.75 and a 12-month high of $214.94. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $196.15 and its 200-day simple moving average is $186.86.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last issued its earnings results on Monday, July 22nd. The software maker reported $1.10 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.01 by $0.09. SAP had a net margin of 7.74% and a return on equity of 10.87%. The company had revenue of $8.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $8.25 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.71 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that SAP SE will post 4.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on SAP shares. Barclays cut their target price on shares of SAP from $212.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 24th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of SAP from $188.00 to $214.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of SAP from $237.00 to $248.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of SAP from $220.00 to $245.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein began coverage on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $227.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, SAP presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $225.17.

SAP 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.