Oracle Corporation $ORCL Shares Sold by BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp

BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp cut its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 357,540 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 72,130 shares during the quarter. BRITISH COLUMBIA INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $78,169,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Oracle in the second quarter worth $4,275,378,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.1% during the second quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 164,278,874 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,916,290,000 after acquiring an additional 3,353,461 shares during the period. Kingstone Capital Partners Texas LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $731,512,000. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 42.1% in the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,839,166 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,932,507,000 after acquiring an additional 2,619,722 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 840.7% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 2,119,473 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $463,380,000 after acquiring an additional 1,894,157 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6%

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $189.64 on Friday. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $345.72. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.91. The business’s fifty day moving average is $245.58 and its 200-day moving average is $240.83. The stock has a market cap of $540.62 billion, a PE ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.66.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.62. Oracle had a return on equity of 70.60% and a net margin of 25.28%.The business had revenue of $16.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Friday, January 9th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.1%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 37.59%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $342.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 17th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $400.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Oracle from $350.00 to $385.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $301.57.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 33,845 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.16, for a total value of $10,869,660.20. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 132,656 shares in the company, valued at $42,603,800.96. The trade was a 20.33% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 40,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $276.64, for a total transaction of $11,065,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 154,030 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $42,610,859.20. The trade was a 20.62% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 171,513 shares of company stock worth $50,397,893. 40.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.