SAP (NYSE:SAP) Stock Rating Lowered by Wall Street Zen

Key Points

• SAP has been downgraded by Wall Street Zen from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating, reflecting increased caution among analysts towards the stock.
• In addition to Wall Street Zen, Erste Group Bank and several other analysts have also shifted their ratings, with most maintaining a "buy" or "overweight" outlook.
• Despite the downgrade, SAP reported strong quarterly earnings, with a revenue increase of 8.9% year-over-year, surpassing analysts' expectations.

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SAP (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report sent to investors on Sunday morning.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on SAP. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of SAP from $330.00 to $375.00 and gave the stock a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 23rd. Morgan Stanley reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of SAP in a research note on Tuesday, August 5th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $322.00 price target (up previously from $308.00) on shares of SAP in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Piper Sandler initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a research report on Tuesday, June 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a research report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued an "overweight" rating for the company. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, SAP currently has a consensus rating of "Buy" and a consensus price target of $281.67.

SAP Stock Up 1.2%

SAP stock traded up $3.08 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $269.28. 704,332 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,357,365. SAP has a 1 year low of $210.38 and a 1 year high of $313.28. The firm has a market cap of $330.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.57, a P/E/G ratio of 3.91 and a beta of 1.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.15, a current ratio of 1.03 and a quick ratio of 1.03. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $289.52 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $284.25.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, July 22nd. The software maker reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.63 by $0.07. SAP had a net margin of 18.26% and a return on equity of 14.84%. The firm had revenue of $10.58 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.10 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.10 EPS. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 8.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that SAP will post 6.55 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in SAP by 3.2% during the 2nd quarter. Contravisory Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,113 shares of the software maker's stock valued at $338,000 after purchasing an additional 34 shares during the period. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 3,688 shares of the software maker's stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Independent Advisor Alliance lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 9,957 shares of the software maker's stock worth $2,673,000 after acquiring an additional 35 shares during the period. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Cordatus Wealth Management LLC now owns 3,310 shares of the software maker's stock worth $889,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the period. Finally, Sage Rhino Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Sage Rhino Capital LLC now owns 3,438 shares of the software maker's stock worth $1,045,000 after acquiring an additional 37 shares during the 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.