Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Haverford Trust Co

Haverford Trust Co cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.9% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 1,675,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 14,946 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 2.8% of Haverford Trust Co’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Haverford Trust Co’s holdings in Oracle were worth $279,236,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew 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 valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Finally, State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $152.83 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $164.87 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.27. The stock has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current 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 $0.50 dividend. 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

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.