Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. Purchases 9,787 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.2% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 3,934,131 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 9,787 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. owned 0.14% of Oracle worth $494,166,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 41.5% in the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position 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 in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.6% during the fourth quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 385,639 shares of company stock valued at $53,002,729 in the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.69 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $143.97. 788,443 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,619,862. The firm has a market cap of $396.76 billion, a PE ratio of 38.62, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $125.81 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $118.49. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $145.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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). The business had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.11%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.