Fayez Sarofim & Co Has $18.48 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Fayez Sarofim & Co grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 110,923 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,043 shares during the quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co’s holdings in Oracle were worth $18,484,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $128.56 on Monday. 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 $359.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50 day moving average is $150.85 and its two-hundred day moving average is $166.33. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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 is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. 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 research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI dropped their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company 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.