Ethic Inc. Trims Stock Holdings in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Ethic Inc. lessened its holdings in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP - Free Report) by 4.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 67,444 shares of the software maker's stock after selling 3,084 shares during the period. Ethic Inc.'s holdings in SAP were worth $16,605,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in SAP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in SAP during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of SAP by 2,700.0% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 112 shares of the software maker's stock worth $28,000 after buying an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Albion Financial Group UT boosted its position in shares of SAP by 122.4% during the fourth quarter. Albion Financial Group UT now owns 129 shares of the software maker's stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 71 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich purchased a new position in SAP during the fourth quarter valued at $42,000.

SAP Trading Down 0.1%

SAP traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $294.00. 705,567 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,032,520. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $270.23 and a 200 day moving average price of $261.44. The firm has a market capitalization of $361.18 billion, a PE ratio of 102.44, a PEG ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.10, a current ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. SAP SE has a 52-week low of $179.43 and a 52-week high of $303.40.

SAP (NYSE:SAP - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $1.51 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.39 by $0.12. SAP had a return on equity of 12.18% and a net margin of 9.17%. The company had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $9.08 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that SAP SE will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed an annual dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 23rd. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be paid a $2.5423 dividend. This is an increase from SAP's previous annual dividend of $2.39. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a yield of 0.8%. SAP's payout ratio is 35.25%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have commented on SAP shares. JMP Securities increased their price objective on shares of SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of SAP in a research note on Friday, May 2nd. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $308.00 target price (up from $286.00) on shares of SAP in a research report on Thursday, April 24th. TD Cowen upgraded shares of SAP from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and boosted their price target for the stock from $240.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an "outperform" rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, SAP has a consensus rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $264.00.

SAP Company Profile

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.