Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by Sovereign Financial Group Inc.

Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 3,244 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its holdings in 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 valued at $865,472,000 after acquiring an additional 8,084,067 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.7% in the third 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 increased its stake in 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 worth $186,255,000 after buying an additional 1,339,311 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted 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 valued at $132,794,000 after buying an additional 1,254,833 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in 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 in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded down $0.45 on Tuesday, hitting $117.89. 6,434,951 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,246,625. The company has a 50 day moving average of $120.19 and a 200-day moving average of $113.57. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $96.10 and a 12-month high of $132.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $324.02 billion, a PE ratio of 31.11, a PEG 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.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective 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 research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, HSBC lifted 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. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 835,000 shares of company stock worth $105,189,850 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.