Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 82,017 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,500 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,647,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 4,717 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $494,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 70.1% during the 3rd quarter. BTC Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,650 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $810,000 after buying an additional 3,152 shares during the period. Meridian Wealth Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 20,051 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,124,000 after buying an additional 534 shares during the period. Sander Capital Advisors Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 74.5% in the third quarter. Sander Capital Advisors Inc. now owns 48,869 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,176,000 after acquiring an additional 20,869 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Blueprint LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.1% during the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 4,077 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. William Blair raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Down 0.0 %

ORCL traded down $0.04 during trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.05. 3,308,985 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,467,427. The stock has a market cap of $316.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $119.23 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.03. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $93.29 and a twelve month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.