Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations Invests $10.24 Million in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 61,449 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $10,240,000. Oracle makes up 0.5% of Caisse Des Depots ET Consignations’ portfolio, making the stock its 26th biggest position.

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC grew its position in Oracle by 16.8% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $325,000 after acquiring an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank grew its position in Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup decreased their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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 $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 4.0 %

ORCL opened at $147.71 on Thursday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $164.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $170.28. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $413.15 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for 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%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.