Unigestion Holding SA Trims Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Unigestion Holding SA reduced its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 72.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 9,153 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 24,008 shares during the period. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC now owns 6,222 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,037,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Sepio Capital LP now owns 42,882 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,146,000 after buying an additional 629 shares during the last quarter. MIG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $331,000. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $459,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co lifted its holdings in Oracle by 39.2% in the fourth quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 266,087 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $44,341,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 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. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Trading Down 6.6 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $160.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.34. The stock has a market cap 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

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

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.