Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC Sells 1,429 Shares of SAP SE (NYSE:SAP)

Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC reduced its position in SAP SE (NYSE:SAP) by 4.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,787 shares of the software maker’s stock after selling 1,429 shares during the period. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC’s holdings in SAP were worth $7,334,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of SAP by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 5,118,138 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $1,260,137,000 after acquiring an additional 403,956 shares during the last quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in SAP by 125.0% during the fourth quarter. TD Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,602,548 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $394,563,000 after purchasing an additional 890,157 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of SAP by 145.5% in the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 1,346,506 shares of the software maker’s stock worth $331,523,000 after buying an additional 798,037 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of SAP by 30.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 1,172,103 shares of the software maker’s stock valued at $288,583,000 after buying an additional 273,417 shares in the last quarter. Finally, WCM Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of SAP in the 4th quarter valued at about $290,023,000.

SAP Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:SAP opened at $250.65 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 1.10 and a current ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $307.92 billion, a PE ratio of 87.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.71 and a beta of 1.28. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $269.66 and its 200-day simple moving average is $255.78. SAP SE has a one year low of $176.14 and a one year high of $293.70.

SAP (NYSE:SAP) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, January 28th. The software maker reported $1.49 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.51 by ($0.02). SAP had a net margin of 9.17% and a return on equity of 12.18%. As a group, equities analysts predict that SAP SE will post 6.55 EPS for the current 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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, May 13th. This is a positive change from SAP’s previous annual dividend of $2.39. This represents a yield of 0.8%. SAP’s dividend payout ratio is 64.11%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on SAP. TD Cowen upgraded SAP from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price objective for the company from $240.00 to $305.00 in a research report on Friday, January 17th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of SAP from $307.00 to $300.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of SAP from $283.00 to $286.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 30th. JMP Securities raised their price objective on shares of SAP from $300.00 to $330.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of SAP in a report on Thursday, January 30th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus price target of $247.67.

SAP 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.