CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co Sells 412,600 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 12.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,780,841 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 412,600 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 0.8% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co's portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned approximately 0.10% of Oracle worth $463,235,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lowered their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Monday, April 14th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Barclays lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $176.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $1.20 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.56. The stock had a trading volume of 8,919,409 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,320,254. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The business's 50-day moving average is $150.85 and its 200 day moving average is $166.34. 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 firm has a market cap of $359.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851 in the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.