Griffin Asset Management Inc. Sells 324 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Griffin Asset Management Inc. reduced its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,382 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 324 shares during the period. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,437,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Oracle by 148.8% during the first 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 acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings 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 worth $552,262,000 after purchasing an additional 2,219,450 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its position in shares of Oracle by 97.4% during the first 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 purchasing an additional 2,093,893 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% in the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $219,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Oppenheimer restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” 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’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $167.42.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the 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 in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $174.10 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $153.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $137.62. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $178.61. The firm has a market cap of $479.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.93, a P/E/G 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. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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