Maryland State Retirement & Pension System Acquires 2,996 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 120,115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,996 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,664,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Oracle by 9,299.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,170,999 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $865,472,000 after acquiring an additional 8,084,067 shares during the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.7% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 313.4% during the 4th quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,766,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $186,255,000 after buying an additional 1,339,311 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 26,602.4% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,259,550 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,794,000 after buying an additional 1,254,833 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its stake in Oracle by 35.2% in the third quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 3,168,969 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $331,221,000 after buying an additional 825,030 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 0.5 %

NYSE ORCL traded down $0.54 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $117.80. The stock had a trading volume of 3,432,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,209,896. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $120.06 and a 200 day simple moving average of $113.46. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $96.10 and a one year high of $132.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $323.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.16, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 835,000 shares of company stock worth $105,189,850. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. HSBC boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Company 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.