Sigma Planning Corp Sells 2,516 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sigma Planning Corp reduced its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 7.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 29,835 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,516 shares during the period. Sigma Planning Corp's holdings in Oracle were worth $4,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 279.7% during the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Guggenheim raised their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a "neutral" rating to a "sell" rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $167.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $168.99 and a 200 day moving average of $167.02. The company has a market cap of $469.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $109.66 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle's payout ratio is 39.12%.

Oracle 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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