Great Lakes Advisors LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC cut its stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) by 10.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,652 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 196 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in SAP were worth $255,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its stake in SAP by 213.0% in the 3rd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 1,420,255 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $183,507,000 after purchasing an additional 966,450 shares in the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of SAP by 19,468.8% during the 3rd quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 482,762 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $62,430,000 after buying an additional 480,295 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of SAP by 64.1% in the 3rd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,060,627 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $137,160,000 after buying an additional 414,407 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC grew its stake in SAP by 2.1% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 5,864,247 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $758,364,000 after acquiring an additional 122,135 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in SAP during the 4th quarter valued at about $17,255,000.

SAP Stock Down 0.4 %

NYSE SAP opened at $193.91 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $188.46 and its 200 day moving average price is $173.11. 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 twelve month low of $126.75 and a twelve month high of $199.29.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $0.88 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.06). SAP had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $8.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.73 billion. Research analysts expect that SAP SE will post 4.56 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared an annual dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 28th. Shareholders of record on Friday, May 17th will be issued a $2.3852 dividend. This represents a dividend yield of 0.9%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, May 16th. This is a positive change from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.19. SAP’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.53%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

SAP has been the topic of several recent research reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised shares of SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, February 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on SAP from $215.00 to $218.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Friday, April 26th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on SAP from $185.00 to $207.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 26th. JMP Securities increased their price objective on SAP from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. Finally, KeyCorp began coverage on shares of SAP in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $206.20.

About SAP

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.