Loomis Sayles & Co. L P Sells 684,884 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 17,552,543 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 684,884 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 316.0% of Loomis Sayles & Co. L P's investment portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest position. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P owned 0.63% of Oracle worth $2,924,956,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Second Line Capital LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

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Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded down $5.03 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $140.75. The stock had a trading volume of 13,138,087 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,963,386. The firm has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a PE 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 quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average of $163.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.22. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed 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 represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a "market perform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $179.20.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 directly 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 legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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.