Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Has $1.03 Billion Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,033,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $30,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other Oracle news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 in the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.13.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $162.03 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $446.53 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a P/E/G ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.16. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $173.93.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 43.13%.

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.