Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Sells $64,050,487.44 in Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link.

Safra Catz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.41 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.64. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its holdings 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 during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

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.