Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 28,945,335 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,364,595 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. owned approximately 0.71% of Oracle worth $1,113,025,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.
Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 122,008,115 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,691,214,000 after buying an additional 3,341,689 shares in the last quarter. BlackRock Fund Advisors boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. BlackRock Fund Advisors now owns 40,999,539 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,610,462,000 after buying an additional 600,969 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 9.2% in the fourth quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 38,811,633 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,492,308,000 after buying an additional 3,278,258 shares in the last quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Vulcan Value Partners LLC now owns 22,633,884 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $870,273,000 after buying an additional 299,598 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 18.7% in the fourth quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 17,859,191 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $686,686,000 after buying an additional 2,814,027 shares in the last quarter. 57.95% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.
Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) traded down 0.22% during midday trading on Friday, hitting $44.43. The stock had a trading volume of 11,556,016 shares. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $37.62 and a one year high of $46.99. The company has a market cap of $182.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.02 and a beta of 1.14. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $44.10 and a 200-day moving average of $40.78. Oracle also was the recipient of some unusual options trading activity on Wednesday. Stock investors bought 714 put options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 205% compared to the average daily volume of 234 put options.
The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 26th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 12th will be paid a $0.19 dividend. This represents a $0.76 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.71%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.15. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 28.99%.
Several equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group started coverage on Oracle in a report on Friday, December 23rd. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $48.00 price target for the company. Cowen and Company reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $46.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, December 23rd. Vetr raised Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating and set a $44.57 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, December 26th. Zacks Investment Research raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Co started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 11th. They set an “outperform” rating for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, thirteen have issued a hold rating, twenty-five have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. The company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $45.89.
In related news, Director Hector Garcia-Molina sold 3,750 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.95, for a total transaction of $153,562.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 8,281 shares in the company, valued at $339,106.95. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, EVP John F. Fowler sold 250,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $44.66, for a total transaction of $11,165,000.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 269,645 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $12,042,345.70. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 6,337,240 shares of company stock valued at $286,681,803 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 29.00% of the company’s stock.
About Oracle
Oracle Corporation (Oracle) provides products and services that address all aspects of corporate information technology (IT) environments, including application, platform and infrastructure. The Company’s businesses include cloud and on-premise software, hardware and services. Its cloud and on-premise software business consists of three segments, including cloud software and on-premise software, which includes Software as a Service (SaaS) and Platform as a Service (PaaS) offerings, cloud infrastructure as a service (IaaS) and software license updates and product support.
