BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 20.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 333,194 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 86,951 shares during the quarter. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $56,776,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.9% during the 3rd quarter. Citizens Financial Group Inc. RI now owns 190,518 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $32,464,000 after buying an additional 8,927 shares in the last quarter. Payden & Rygel increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 65,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $11,125,000 after acquiring an additional 300 shares during the last quarter. Moran Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth $1,882,000. Bellwether Advisors LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 1.9% in the third quarter. Bellwether Advisors LLC now owns 84,043 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $14,321,000 after purchasing an additional 1,564 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Advisors Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 18.1% in the 3rd quarter. Advisors Asset Management Inc. now owns 110,940 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $18,904,000 after purchasing an additional 16,997 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $192.81 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $196.04. The company has a market capitalization of $534.29 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $175.02 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. KeyCorp lifted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $169.52.

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.