Capital Research Global Investors Has $1.99 Billion Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Capital Research Global Investors increased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,954,743 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,941 shares during the period. Capital Research Global Investors owned approximately 0.43% of Oracle worth $1,992,139,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Mizuho decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Westpark Capital began coverage on Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $176.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $128.56 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.85 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.34. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The firm 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 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 posted its quarterly earnings data 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’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 sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,453,328 shares of company stock valued at $454,439,851 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.