Easterly Investment Partners LLC Has $5.63 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC lessened its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 49.4% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 33,791 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 32,938 shares during the quarter. Easterly Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,631,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,764 shares during the period. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $147.71 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $413.15 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $164.62 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.28. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

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.