Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. Reduces Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C. trimmed its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,447,716 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 93,900 shares during the quarter. Adage Capital Partners GP L.L.C.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $241,247,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays reduced their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This trade represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 352,174 shares of company stock valued at $64,990,957. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 3.6 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $127.20 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day moving average of $148.93 and a 200 day moving average of $165.72. The firm has a market cap of $355.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.10, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.57%. 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 payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.