Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by V Square Quantitative Management LLC

V Square Quantitative Management LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 10,113 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 758 shares during the quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,685,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Oracle by 279.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.1 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $486.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $165.29.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. 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.