SAP (NYSE:SAP) Raised to “Outperform” at BMO Capital Markets

SAP (NYSE:SAP) was upgraded by equities researchers at BMO Capital Markets from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report issued on Friday, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has a $237.00 price target on the software maker’s stock, up from their previous price target of $218.00. BMO Capital Markets’ price target would indicate a potential upside of 17.98% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other research analysts have also weighed in on SAP. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of SAP from $212.00 to $210.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 24th. JMP Securities raised their price target on shares of SAP from $204.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 23rd. Sanford C. Bernstein initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, May 23rd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $227.00 price target for the company. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of SAP from a “strong-buy” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $220.20.

SAP Stock Performance

SAP stock opened at $200.88 on Friday. SAP has a 52 week low of $126.75 and a 52 week high of $201.45. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $188.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $179.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.18, a current ratio of 1.25 and a quick ratio of 1.25.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $0.88 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.94 by ($0.06). SAP had a return on equity of 9.79% and a net margin of 15.76%. The company had revenue of $8.73 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $8.73 billion. On average, research analysts predict that SAP will post 4.56 EPS for the current year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On SAP

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new position in shares of SAP in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. LRI Investments LLC purchased a new position in shares of SAP in the first quarter valued at about $25,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SAP in the first quarter valued at about $29,000. Wetzel Investment Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of SAP during the fourth quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Adirondack Trust Co. increased its position in shares of SAP by 121.1% during the fourth quarter. Adirondack Trust Co. now owns 199 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 109 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.