Raymond James Financial Inc. Cuts Stake in SAP SE $SAP

Key Points

• Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in SAP SE by 27.1% in Q1, selling 165,840 shares and retaining 446,107 shares worth $119.75 million.
• Wall Street analysts have mixed views on SAP, with two maintaining a hold rating, eleven giving a buy rating, and one issuing a strong buy rating, reflecting an average target price of $281.67.
• SAP reported a Q2 EPS of $1.70, exceeding expectations, with revenue up 8.9% year-over-year at $10.58 billion.

Raymond James Financial Inc. reduced its position in shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 27.1% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 446,107 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 165,840 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc.'s holdings in SAP were worth $119,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in SAP. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in SAP by 41.3% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 4,773 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,175,000 after buying an additional 1,396 shares during the period. Zions Bancorporation National Association UT bought a new position in shares of SAP during the 1st quarter worth $1,580,000. Hennion & Walsh Asset Management Inc. bought a new position in shares of SAP during the 1st quarter worth $790,000. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in SAP by 15.7% during the 4th quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 1,271 shares of the software maker's stock worth $313,000 after purchasing an additional 172 shares in the last quarter. Finally, TD Asset Management Inc raised its holdings in shares of SAP by 3.8% in the 1st quarter. TD Asset Management Inc now owns 1,662,809 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $446,364,000 after acquiring an additional 60,261 shares in the last quarter.

SAP Stock Performance

SAP stock traded up $1.7540 during trading on Friday, reaching $270.9640. The stock had a trading volume of 1,450,717 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,596,464. SAP SE has a 52 week low of $210.38 and a 52 week high of $313.28. The stock's 50 day moving average is $292.38 and its two-hundred day moving average is $284.98. The company has a current ratio of 1.03, a quick ratio of 1.03 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15. The firm has a market cap of $332.88 billion, a PE ratio of 44.86, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 1.27.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The software maker reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.07. The business had revenue of $10.58 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.10 billion. SAP had a return on equity of 14.84% and a net margin of 18.26%.The business's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.10 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that SAP SE will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company assumed coverage on SAP in a research note on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating on the stock. Erste Group Bank downgraded SAP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 14th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of SAP in a report on Friday, May 2nd. JMP Securities upped their price target on SAP from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, July 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of SAP in a report on Tuesday, August 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have issued a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, SAP currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $281.67.

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.