SAP (NYSE:SAP) Shares Gap Up - What's Next?

Key Points

• SAP shares gapped higher, opening at $215.15 versus a prior close of $206.36, and last traded near $213.55.
• Analyst sentiment remains generally positive: SAP has a consensus “Moderate Buy” rating and a $255.67 average price target, though Jefferies recently downgraded the stock to “Hold.”
• SAP’s latest quarterly results showed 9.4% year-over-year revenue growth to $11.27 billion, but earnings of $1.82 per share missed the $2.00 consensus estimate.

Shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) gapped up prior to trading on Monday . The stock had previously closed at $206.36, but opened at $215.15. SAP shares last traded at $213.5480, with a volume of 338,864 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Argus set a $265.00 price target on shares of SAP in a research note on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating and issued a $265.00 price objective on shares of SAP in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of SAP in a report on Wednesday, August 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded SAP from a "hold (c-)" rating to a "hold (c)" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 30th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded SAP from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, July 24th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, thirteen have issued a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $255.67.

SAP Stock Performance

The stock's 50 day moving average price is $191.36 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $180.75. The company has a current ratio of 1.15, a quick ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $263.12 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.90, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.14.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 22nd. The software maker reported $1.82 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $2.00 by ($0.18). SAP had a net margin of 20.88% and a return on equity of 17.07%. The company had revenue of $11.27 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.30 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.50 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 9.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that SAP SE will post 8.17 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Trading of SAP

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Tidal Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of SAP by 18.5% in the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 1,214,315 shares of the software maker's stock worth $187,138,000 after buying an additional 189,591 shares in the last quarter. BlueCrest Capital Management Ltd acquired a new position in SAP during the second quarter worth about $364,000. WINTON GROUP Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 45.1% in the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 11,780 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $1,815,000 after purchasing an additional 3,660 shares in the last quarter. Capital Analysts LLC grew its position in shares of SAP by 12.3% in the second quarter. Capital Analysts LLC now owns 1,243 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $192,000 after purchasing an additional 136 shares during the last quarter. Finally, RFG Advisory LLC grew its position in shares of SAP by 42.1% in the second quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 3,072 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $473,000 after purchasing an additional 910 shares during the last quarter.

SAP Company Profile

SAP SE is a German enterprise software company headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. The company develops technology that helps organizations manage core business operations, including finance, procurement, supply chain, manufacturing, human resources, sales and customer relationships.

SAP's portfolio is centered on its cloud-based enterprise resource planning platform, SAP S/4HANA, along with the SAP Business Technology Platform. Its products and services also include SAP SuccessFactors for human resources, SAP Ariba for business-to-business procurement, SAP Concur for travel and expense management, and solutions for customer experience, data management, analytics and artificial intelligence.

SAP was founded in 1972 by five former IBM employees and has grown into a global provider of business software.

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