Merit Financial Group LLC Boosts Holdings in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Merit Financial Group LLC increased its holdings in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 71.0% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,544 shares of the software maker's stock after buying an additional 1,886 shares during the quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC's holdings in SAP were worth $1,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its position in shares of SAP by 152.0% during the 4th quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 414,154 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $101,969,000 after buying an additional 249,824 shares in the last quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. lifted its holdings in SAP by 98.9% during the fourth quarter. D.A. Davidson & CO. now owns 2,572 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $633,000 after purchasing an additional 1,279 shares in the last quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 164.4% during the 4th quarter. Steward Partners Investment Advisory LLC now owns 2,681 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $660,000 after buying an additional 1,667 shares in the last quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 89.4% during the 4th quarter. Atria Wealth Solutions Inc. now owns 5,511 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,357,000 after buying an additional 2,601 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV purchased a new position in shares of SAP during the 4th quarter valued at $518,000.

SAP Price Performance

NYSE:SAP opened at $309.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The company has a market capitalization of $380.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 107.96, a P/E/G ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.32. SAP SE has a 12 month low of $186.40 and a 12 month high of $311.40. The business's 50-day moving average is $281.91 and its 200 day moving average is $270.22.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12. The business had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.08 billion. SAP had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 9.17%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that SAP SE will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were paid a dividend of $2.5423 per share. This is an increase from SAP's previous annual dividend of $2.39. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. SAP's dividend payout ratio is presently 35.25%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on SAP from $320.00 to $330.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and issued a $330.00 price objective on shares of SAP in a research report on Friday, May 23rd. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and issued a $308.00 price target (up from $286.00) on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, April 24th. UBS Group raised SAP to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 30th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company started coverage on SAP in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $271.83.

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.

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