Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Sells 883,493 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD decreased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 11.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,957,644 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 883,493 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.25% of Oracle worth $1,159,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $379,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, 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 dated 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 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. Insiders sold 352,174 shares of company stock valued at $64,990,957 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 3.3 %

ORCL opened at $131.43 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock's fifty day moving average is $148.08 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.49. The company has a market capitalization of $367.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.13, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.52%. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a "market outperform" rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reiterated an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target for the company. Fourteen 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

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.

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