Groupama Asset Managment Sells 5,077 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Groupama Asset Managment lowered its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 55,417 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 5,077 shares during the quarter. Groupama Asset Managment’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,250,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP boosted its stake in Oracle by 100.2% in the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,698 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 1,257.4% in the third quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 92,601 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $15,780,000 after acquiring an additional 85,779 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 1.6 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $162.91 and a 200 day simple moving average of $170.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market capitalization of $397.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 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.