Great Lakes Advisors LLC Sells 21,054 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 390,074 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 21,054 shares during the quarter. Great Lakes Advisors LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $65,002,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $930,095,000. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Amundi boosted its holdings in Oracle by 15.2% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,012,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623,609 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 3,805.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 966,571 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $161,069,000 after buying an additional 941,819 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.62. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a PE ratio of 35.28, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results 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). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Citigroup reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Bank of America lowered their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price target on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.92.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle 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.

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