Principal Financial Group Inc. Cuts Stake in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Principal Financial Group Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 519,101 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 92,471 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in SAP were worth $127,808,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Americana Partners LLC increased its stake in SAP by 205.0% during the 4th quarter. Americana Partners LLC now owns 15,177 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $3,737,000 after buying an additional 10,201 shares during the period. Sierra Ocean LLC purchased a new stake in SAP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $115,000. Allworth Financial LP grew its holdings in SAP by 33.4% during the 4th quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 2,713 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $741,000 after acquiring an additional 680 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC acquired a new position in SAP during the 4th quarter worth approximately $4,850,000. Finally, Principal Securities Inc. grew its holdings in SAP by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. Principal Securities Inc. now owns 8,783 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $2,162,000 after acquiring an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have commented on SAP shares. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of SAP from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of SAP from $265.00 to $307.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. JMP Securities boosted their price target on shares of SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Kepler Capital Markets upgraded shares of SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $248.83.

SAP Trading Up 0.6 %

Shares of SAP stock opened at $292.51 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $263.01 and a 200-day simple moving average of $239.31. SAP SE has a 12-month low of $174.88 and a 12-month high of $293.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.12, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16. The stock has a market cap of $359.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 101.92, a PEG ratio of 4.63 and a beta of 1.23.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The software maker reported $1.49 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.51 by ($0.02). SAP had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 12.18%. On average, equities analysts forecast that SAP SE will post 6.55 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.