Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 48.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,691,309 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,487,733 shares during the period. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA owned about 0.10% of Oracle worth $448,480,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 36,607 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,100,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares during the period. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. May Hill Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $564,000. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $775,000 after buying an additional 115 shares during the period. Finally, Lokken Investment Group LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 28.3% during the 4th quarter. Lokken Investment Group LLC now owns 2,237 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 494 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $145.96 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a PEG 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’s fifty day moving average is $162.14 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid 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 yield of 1.37%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.