Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.

Brown Brothers Harriman & Co. cut its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,416,780 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 77,819 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 4.0% of Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th biggest position. Brown Brothers Harriman & Co.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $569,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings 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 valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. 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. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings 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 worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays decreased their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their target price on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Down 3.5 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $140.75 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $163.94 and a 200-day moving average of $170.12. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.