Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Conning Inc.

Conning Inc. cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 11,119 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 303 shares during the quarter. Conning Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,853,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $174.53 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $170.63 and its 200 day moving average price is $164.11.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.