Krane Funds Advisors LLC Takes $280,000 Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Krane Funds Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,679 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $280,000.

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

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock worth $453,791,001. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Stephens began coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $128.17 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average is $160.05 and its 200 day moving average is $169.38. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.56%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.