Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Sells 2,101,154 Shares of Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

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

• On Friday, January 24th, Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44.

Oracle Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $183.59 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a 50-day moving average of $174.41 and a 200 day moving average of $162.49. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 279.7% during the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim lifted 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. DA Davidson increased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Company 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.