Becker Capital Management Inc. Has $43.81 Million Stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Becker Capital Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 3.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 177,920 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 5,776 shares during the quarter. SAP makes up about 1.4% of Becker Capital Management Inc.'s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th largest position. Becker Capital Management Inc.'s holdings in SAP were worth $43,806,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Atomi Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in SAP by 38.9% in the 4th quarter. Atomi Financial Group Inc. now owns 12,486 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $3,074,000 after buying an additional 3,495 shares during the period. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of SAP by 208.2% during the 4th quarter. Mount Yale Investment Advisors LLC now owns 16,367 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $4,030,000 after acquiring an additional 11,057 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in SAP by 1.4% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 548,469 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $125,654,000 after acquiring an additional 7,667 shares during the period. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. raised its position in SAP by 152.0% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 414,154 shares of the software maker's stock worth $101,969,000 after purchasing an additional 249,824 shares in the last quarter. Finally, D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its stake in SAP by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,572 shares of the software maker's stock worth $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on SAP shares. JMP Securities increased their target price on SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated 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 boosted their target price for the company from $240.00 to $305.00 in a research note on Friday, January 17th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $308.00 target price (up previously from $286.00) on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. Finally, Argus restated a "buy" rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of SAP in a research report on Tuesday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $264.00.

SAP Price Performance

Shares of SAP stock traded up $12.86 during trading on Friday, reaching $301.79. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,751,645 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,019,314. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $268.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $258.79. The stock has a market capitalization of $370.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 105.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. SAP SE has a one year low of $179.43 and a one year high of $302.68.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $1.51 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.12. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.08 billion. SAP had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 12.18%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that SAP SE will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $2.5423 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. This is an increase from SAP's previous annual dividend of $2.39. SAP's payout ratio is presently 35.25%.

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.