Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd

Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 75,323 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 7,000 shares during the quarter. Dai ichi Life Insurance Company Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,835,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares during the period. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 63.8% during the 3rd quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $188.09 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $521.21 billion, a PE ratio of 48.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $175.98 and its 200-day moving average is $150.14. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $196.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.