SAP (NYSE:SAP) Releases Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.12 EPS

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) released its earnings results on Tuesday. The software maker reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12, Zacks reports. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.08 billion. SAP had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 12.18%.

SAP Price Performance

NYSE SAP traded up $4.90 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $278.45. 1,849,940 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 996,111. SAP has a 1 year low of $179.15 and a 1 year high of $293.70. The company has a market cap of $342.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 97.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.28. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $267.83 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $256.79. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a current ratio of 1.12 and a quick ratio of 1.10.

SAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared 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. This is a positive change from SAP's previous annual dividend of $2.39. This represents a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. SAP's payout ratio is 35.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on SAP. JMP Securities upped their price target on SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and set a $38.00 price target 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 increased their target price for the company from $240.00 to $305.00 in a report on Friday, January 17th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded SAP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $308.00 price target (up previously from $286.00) on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, SAP currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $254.67.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SAP

A hedge fund recently raised its stake in SAP stock. Brighton Jones LLC raised its holdings in shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 91.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,633 shares of the software maker's stock after purchasing an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Brighton Jones LLC's holdings in SAP were worth $648,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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.