Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Reduced by Harris Associates L P

Harris Associates L P reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 25.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,695,990 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 592,378 shares during the period. Harris Associates L P owned about 0.06% of Oracle worth $288,997,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. PineStone Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 131.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its stake in 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. Swedbank AB boosted its holdings in Oracle by 123.7% during the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,645,920 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,978 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. grew its holdings in Oracle by 459.5% during the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,235,859 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $174,503,000 after purchasing an additional 1,014,959 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $181.41 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $196.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $502.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.76, a PEG ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.03. 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 50 day moving average price of $177.45 and a 200 day moving average price of $152.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Activity

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 shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction 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. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have commented on ORCL. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

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.