Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Jennison Associates LLC

Jennison Associates LLC lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 29.8% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 318,903 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 135,081 shares during the quarter. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $54,341,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 79.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares during the period. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 1.1 %

ORCL opened at $192.81 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $196.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $175.02 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.68. The firm has a market cap of $534.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho increased their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

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.