Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Sells 345,174 Shares of Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink.

Safra Catz also recently made the following trade(s):

• On Wednesday, January 22nd, Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $174.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.49. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.