Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Director Sells 45,000 Shares of Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded down $0.54 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $117.39. 4,635,195 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,200,177. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $120.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.57. 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 company has a market cap of $322.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.00, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $96.10 and a 12 month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 42.22%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. MAI Capital Management boosted its position in Oracle by 36.1% during the first quarter. MAI Capital Management now owns 193,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $24,263,000 after purchasing an additional 51,220 shares during the last quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the 1st quarter. Great Diamond Partners LLC now owns 28,153 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,536,000 after buying an additional 949 shares during the last quarter. Cantillon Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $124,097,000. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS grew its position in Oracle by 0.6% in the first quarter. Commonwealth of Pennsylvania Public School Empls Retrmt SYS now owns 350,012 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $43,965,000 after acquiring an additional 2,077 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Avantax Advisory Services Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 49.9% in the first quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 56,246 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,065,000 after buying an additional 18,727 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. HSBC boosted their price target on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.