Mariner LLC Acquires 59,383 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mariner LLC grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,072,872 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 59,383 shares during the period. Mariner LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $178,786,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. SageView Advisory Group LLC increased its position in Oracle by 42.2% in the 4th quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 14,698 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,449,000 after buying an additional 4,365 shares in the last quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. 3Chopt Investment Partners LLC now owns 10,196 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,699,000 after acquiring an additional 94 shares during the period. Keystone Financial Group raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Keystone Financial Group now owns 6,472 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,078,000 after purchasing an additional 131 shares during the period. Savvy Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Savvy Advisors Inc. now owns 9,468 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,578,000 after purchasing an additional 2,121 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Independent Franchise Partners LLP grew its position in Oracle by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. Independent Franchise Partners LLP now owns 4,138,455 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $689,632,000 after purchasing an additional 240,956 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Westpark Capital began coverage on Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.27.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction 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 approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $1.98 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $134.33. The company's stock had a trading volume of 8,208,279 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,276,268. The firm has a market capitalization of $375.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $154.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.39. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31.

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 (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 analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.49%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 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.