DSM Capital Partners LLC Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

DSM Capital Partners LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 13.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 58,655 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 9,222 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 0.2% of DSM Capital Partners LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. DSM Capital Partners LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $9,774,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reissued a "market outperform" rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $8.08 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $167.92. 9,693,812 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,127,484. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $469.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day moving average of $167.02. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $109.66 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle's payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.