Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Russell Investments Group Ltd.

Russell Investments Group Ltd. lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,842,316 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 46,107 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 0.4% of Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th biggest position. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.07% of Oracle worth $307,061,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Trading Down 6.6 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $160.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.33. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.