Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Decreases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 69.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 379,226 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 856,633 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $64,620,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 131.2% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,450 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Oracle by 97.4% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $532,920,000 after buying an additional 2,093,893 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in Oracle by 5,853.1% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $219,224,000 after buying an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $174.38 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $483.22 billion, a PE ratio of 44.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $158.68 and a 200-day moving average price of $139.61. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $178.61. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Oracle Company Profile

Oracle Corporation offers products and services that address enterprise information technology environments worldwide. Its Oracle cloud software as a service offering include various cloud software applications, including Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise resource planning (ERP), Oracle Fusion cloud enterprise performance management, Oracle Fusion cloud supply chain and manufacturing management, Oracle Fusion cloud human capital management, Oracle Cerner healthcare, Oracle Advertising, and NetSuite applications suite, as well as Oracle Fusion Sales, Service, and Marketing.