Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co

CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 2,780,841 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 412,600 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 0.8% of CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co’s holdings, making the stock its 19th biggest holding. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co owned 0.10% of Oracle worth $463,235,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $379,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle 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 owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho cut their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.73.

Oracle Stock Down 3.2 %

ORCL stock opened at $129.67 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. 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 $362.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $152.83 and a 200-day moving average price of $166.90.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.54%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio 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.