SAP (NYSE:SAP) Stock Rating Upgraded by HSBC

Key Points

• HSBC upgraded SAP from "hold" to "buy", contributing to a MarketBeat consensus of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.25.
• SAP beat last quarter's estimates, reporting $1.90 EPS vs. $1.77 expected and $11.36 billion in revenue (vs. $9.77 billion), with revenue up 3.3% year‑over‑year and a 19.92% net margin.
• Despite the upgrade and earnings beat, shares opened at $176.52, well below the 52‑week high of $313.28, with a market cap of $216.86 billion and a P/E of 25.04.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) was upgraded by research analysts at HSBC from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report released on Wednesday, Marketbeat reports.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on the stock. Piper Sandler lowered shares of SAP from an "overweight" rating to a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 14th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft restated a "buy" rating on shares of SAP in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Citigroup lowered shares of SAP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of SAP from $283.00 to $256.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of SAP from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eleven have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $290.25.

SAP Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE:SAP opened at $176.52 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $216.86 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.04, a P/E/G ratio of 2.01 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.13, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 1.16. SAP has a fifty-two week low of $160.66 and a fifty-two week high of $313.28. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $185.47 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $224.15.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The software maker reported $1.90 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.77 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $11.36 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $9.77 billion. SAP had a net margin of 19.92% and a return on equity of 16.54%. SAP's revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.40 EPS. Analysts predict that SAP will post 8.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of SAP

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in SAP. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of SAP by 91.1% in the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 2,633 shares of the software maker's stock worth $648,000 after acquiring an additional 1,255 shares during the period. Baird Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in shares of SAP in the first quarter worth approximately $242,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SAP by 49.0% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 16,309 shares of the software maker's stock worth $4,378,000 after acquiring an additional 5,363 shares during the period. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of SAP in the first quarter worth approximately $2,681,000. Finally, Sivia Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of SAP by 2.3% in the second quarter. Sivia Capital Partners LLC now owns 3,050 shares of the software maker's stock worth $928,000 after acquiring an additional 69 shares during the period.

SAP Company Profile

SAP SE is a global enterprise software company headquartered in Walldorf, Germany. Founded in 1972 by five former IBM engineers, the company's name is an acronym for Systeme, Anwendungen und Produkte in der Datenverarbeitung (Systems, Applications & Products in Data Processing). SAP develops and sells software and services that help organizations manage business processes across finance, human resources, procurement, manufacturing, supply chain and customer relationships.

SAP's product portfolio spans on‑premises and cloud offerings, anchored by its enterprise resource planning (ERP) solutions such as SAP S/4HANA and the SAP HANA in‑memory database and platform.

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