SAP (NYSE:SAP) Hits New 52-Week High – Should You Buy?

SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) hit a new 52-week high on Tuesday . The stock traded as high as $304.43 and last traded at $302.94, with a volume of 286184 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $294.87.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $308.00 price objective (up from $286.00) on shares of SAP in a research note on Thursday, April 24th. Argus reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $320.00 price target on shares of SAP in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $330.00 price objective on shares of SAP in a report on Friday. Wells Fargo & Company initiated coverage on SAP in a report on Tuesday, May 20th. They issued an “overweight” rating on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $271.83.

SAP Stock Up 1.9%

The company has a market capitalization of $369.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 104.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.35. The company has a 50-day moving average of $276.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $265.96. 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 (NYSE:SAP) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, April 22nd. The software maker reported $1.51 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.39 by $0.12. SAP had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 12.18%. The firm had revenue of $10.35 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.08 billion. On average, research analysts predict that SAP SE will post 6.55 EPS for the current year.

SAP Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced an annual dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 23rd. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were issued a $2.5423 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. This is a boost from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.39. This represents a yield of 0.8%. SAP’s payout ratio is 35.25%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On SAP

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in SAP during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of SAP by 585.7% during the 1st quarter. Bartlett & CO. Wealth Management LLC now owns 96 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $26,000 after purchasing an additional 82 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA purchased a new stake in shares of SAP during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Rakuten Securities Inc. lifted its stake in shares of SAP by 2,700.0% in the 4th quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 112 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $28,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares during the period. Finally, Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in shares of SAP by 153.5% in the first quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 109 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $29,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter.

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.