Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Sapient Capital LLC

Sapient Capital LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 19.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,784 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,610 shares during the quarter. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,464,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of 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. lifted its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after acquiring an additional 891,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Up 2.6 %

ORCL stock opened at $178.97 on Tuesday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.42 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.68. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $500.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.76, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.89%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

About Oracle

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.