Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Sells 2,101,154 Shares of Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Safra Catz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Friday, January 24th, Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $174.41 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.64.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 13,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Flavin Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $2,720,000. Patron Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.2% in the 4th quarter. Patron Partners LLC now owns 3,786 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 119 shares during the last quarter. Columbus Macro LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 31.4% during the 4th quarter. Columbus Macro LLC now owns 2,373 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,000 after acquiring an additional 567 shares during the period. Finally, abrdn plc boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. abrdn plc now owns 999,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $166,384,000 after acquiring an additional 75,208 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.