Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Position Trimmed by Bill Few Associates Inc.

Bill Few Associates Inc. lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.2% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 45,207 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 75 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 2.7% of Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 4th largest position. Bill Few Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,703,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 131.2% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 97.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $532,920,000 after buying an additional 2,093,893 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $219,224,000 after buying an additional 1,526,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after buying an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Argus increased their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America increased their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $174.10 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $153.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $137.62. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $178.61. The firm has a market cap of $479.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.93, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

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.