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

Assenagon Asset Management S.A. trimmed its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 64.7% during the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 225,316 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 413,133 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $31,501,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 7.5% in the first quarter. Trueblood Wealth Management LLC now owns 13,649 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,908,000 after purchasing an additional 953 shares during the last quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 8.0% during the 1st quarter. Atwood & Palmer Inc. now owns 3,633 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $508,000 after buying an additional 270 shares in the last quarter. Gibson Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 11.1% during the 1st quarter. Gibson Capital LLC now owns 2,578 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $360,000 after buying an additional 258 shares in the last quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 108.1% during the 1st quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 73,145 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $10,226,000 after buying an additional 38,001 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First National Bank of Mount Dora Trust Investment Services purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at about $7,006,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This trade represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $199.67 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $151.06 and its two-hundred day moving average is $160.44. The company has a market cap of $558.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $202.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $240.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Wall Street Zen cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Oracle from $180.00 to $215.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $192.30.

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.