BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S Grows Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 39.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 487,357 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 138,679 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.9% of BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest holding. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S's holdings in Oracle were worth $81,213,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Beck Mack & Oliver LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $669,000. Capital International Inc. CA lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Capital International Inc. CA now owns 80,614 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $13,434,000 after purchasing an additional 22,709 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,046,273 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,340,830,000 after acquiring an additional 335,352 shares during the period. Dnca Finance purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $17,032,000. Finally, Elevatus Welath Management boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Elevatus Welath Management now owns 5,549 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $925,000 after purchasing an additional 99 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, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 352,174 shares of company stock valued at $64,990,957 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. DA Davidson dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded up $4.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $132.19. 6,064,070 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,340,001. The firm has a market capitalization of $369.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.32, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $148.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous 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 predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.51%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.