Jennison Associates LLC Has $201.76 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 279.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 891,842 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $201,759,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $169.91 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $475.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.54, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day moving average of $171.89 and a 200-day moving average of $163.58.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % 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. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Guggenheim increased their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group raised 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. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.