Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Holdings Reduced by Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp

Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 920,680 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 36,377 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Trust & Banking Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $153,422,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.8 %

Oracle stock opened at $154.98 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month 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 has a market cap of $433.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $170.36.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.