Fmr LLC Grows Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Fmr LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 156,269 shares during the period. Fmr LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,332,803,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. United Bank grew its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $2,590,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Oracle by 27.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,424 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $9,785,000 after acquiring an additional 12,302 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Barclays dropped their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock worth $453,791,001 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $128.17 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.34. 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 posted its 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 firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm 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 dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.