Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Gamco Investors INC. ET AL

Gamco Investors INC. ET AL decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.5% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 21,376 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,015 shares during the quarter. Gamco Investors INC. ET AL’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,685,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $1,210,181,000. Boston Partners raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 382.4% in the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,563,366 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $481,820,000 after buying an additional 3,617,413 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.1% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after buying an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 30,724.3% in the 4th quarter. Public Employees Retirement Association of Colorado now owns 2,056,289 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $216,795,000 after buying an additional 2,049,618 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ORCL traded up $1.19 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $139.01. 5,139,377 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 7,701,505. The company has a market cap of $383.09 billion, a PE ratio of 37.49, a PEG ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $135.07 and its 200-day moving average is $123.16. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $146.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their target price on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 1,952,500 shares of company stock worth $277,298,174. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.