Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main

DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main trimmed its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 65.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,043,840 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,954,723 shares during the quarter. DZ BANK AG Deutsche Zentral Genossenschafts Bank Frankfurt am Main owned approximately 0.07% of Oracle worth $215,490,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp increased its position in Oracle by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its position in Oracle by 3.5% in the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Seven Mile Advisory grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 502 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 1.2 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $1.71 during trading on Friday, reaching $138.14. The stock had a trading volume of 8,806,237 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,472,918. The company has a market capitalization of $379.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.64, a P/E/G ratio of 2.93 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $120.78 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $115.98. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $142.40.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.98 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $141.50.

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.