Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. Sells 16,506 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A. lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 261,890 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 16,506 shares during the period. Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria S.A.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $43,763,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. UBS Group reaffirmed a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reduced their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $131.43 on Thursday. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $148.08 and its 200 day simple moving average is $165.49. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $367.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.52%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 352,174 shares of company stock valued at $64,990,957 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

About Oracle

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.

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