South Dakota Investment Council Sells 2,500 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

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

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.7% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after buying an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after purchasing an additional 635,994 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Invesco Ltd. lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the third 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 last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its stake in Oracle by 9,299.3% in the third 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. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’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 value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 0.0 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $0.04 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $115.05. The company had a trading volume of 3,308,985 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,467,427. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $93.29 and a 52-week high of $132.77. 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 50 day moving average of $119.23 and a 200 day moving average of $113.03. The stock has a market capitalization of $316.21 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.47, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The business 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%. Oracle’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus 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.