Americana Partners LLC Sells 2,930 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Americana Partners LLC decreased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 30.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 6,769 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,930 shares during the period. Americana Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,128,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 279.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. 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 one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.33 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.