Alliancebernstein L.P. Sells 603,394 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Alliancebernstein L.P. reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 7,721,463 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 603,394 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. owned approximately 0.28% of Oracle worth $1,286,705,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Prudent Man Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $139,000. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 128.3% in the 4th quarter. Edmond DE Rothschild Holding S.A. now owns 36,525 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,087,000 after purchasing an additional 20,527 shares in the last quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.2% during the fourth quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 105,058 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $17,507,000 after buying an additional 8,830 shares during the last quarter. D L Carlson Investment Group Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $2,385,000. Finally, AIA Group Ltd increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 121.7% in the fourth quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 23,156 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,859,000 after buying an additional 12,709 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $140.75 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $163.94 and a 200 day moving average of $170.31. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

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.