Swedbank AB Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Swedbank AB lowered its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.1% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,352,952 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 292,968 shares during the quarter. Swedbank AB’s holdings in Oracle were worth $400,943,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp acquired a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at about $36,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.42.

Oracle Stock Down 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $1.23 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $174.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,341,702 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,490,100. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $178.61. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $152.60 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $137.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The company has a market capitalization of $481.97 billion, a PE ratio of 47.04, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.91%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Oracle 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.