Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Lincoln National Corp

Lincoln National Corp boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 43,911 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,557 shares during the period. Lincoln National Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,630,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in shares of Oracle by 9,299.3% during 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 buying an additional 8,084,067 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake 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 valued at $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. DNB Asset Management AS lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 313.4% during the fourth quarter. DNB Asset Management AS now owns 1,766,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $186,255,000 after purchasing an additional 1,339,311 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 26,602.4% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 1,259,550 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,794,000 after purchasing an additional 1,254,833 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after buying an additional 635,994 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded up $2.54 on Monday, hitting $118.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,301,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,261,409. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $96.10 and a one year high of $132.77. The firm has a market cap of $325.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $120.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $113.46.

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 company 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 completion of 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 835,000 shares of company stock worth $105,189,850. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. 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 note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 1st. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.