Easterly Investment Partners LLC Sells 32,938 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Easterly Investment Partners LLC cut its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 49.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 33,791 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 32,938 shares during the period. Easterly Investment Partners LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $5,631,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,216,314,000. Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $10,240,000. Blair William & Co. IL increased its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the fourth quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 621,859 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $103,627,000 after acquiring an additional 68,804 shares in the last quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.0% during the fourth quarter. Homestead Advisers Corp now owns 293,000 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $48,826,000 after acquiring an additional 11,200 shares during the period. Finally, Howe & Rusling Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc. now owns 6,284 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,047,000 after acquiring an additional 1,250 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup reduced their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL traded down $5.03 on Friday, hitting $140.75. 13,138,087 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,963,386. The business has a 50-day moving average of $163.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.22. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.