Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. lowered its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 129,793 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,208 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 1.0% of Foster & Motley Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest position. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $13,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,599,200,000 after buying an additional 7,883,515 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in Oracle by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,982,630,000 after acquiring an additional 635,994 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 0.5% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,704,523 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,211,307,000 after purchasing an additional 61,604 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,471,884 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $897,342,000 after purchasing an additional 89,876 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Oracle by 9,299.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 8,084,067 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have commented on ORCL. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.35 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $114.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 7,119,157 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,574,970. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $93.29 and a 52-week high of $132.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $314.79 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $119.23 and a 200-day moving average of $112.95.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.