Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Eagle Asset Management Inc.

Eagle Asset Management Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 37.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 800,233 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 477,001 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 0.8% of Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest position. Eagle Asset Management Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $151,444,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 76.1% during the 1st quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,202,098 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $150,996,000 after purchasing an additional 519,479 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter valued at $1,584,000. Lazard Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 81.2% in the first quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 1,627,755 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $204,462,000 after acquiring an additional 729,535 shares in the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth about $347,000. Finally, Kestra Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 23.4% during the 1st quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC now owns 189,385 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $23,789,000 after purchasing an additional 35,855 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Melius raised Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a "market outperform" rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.38 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $192.05. The stock had a trading volume of 3,469,701 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,224,021. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $175.02 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $148.68. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $196.04. The company has a market capitalization of $532.18 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.