Assenagon Asset Management S.A. Boosts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 68.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 638,449 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 259,223 shares during the quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $106,391,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial purchased a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $156.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $105.42 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $176.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $161.24. The company has a market cap of $437.28 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.