California Public Employees Retirement System Lowers Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

California Public Employees Retirement System lowered its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,390,810 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 605,391 shares during the period. California Public Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.23% of Oracle worth $673,783,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after buying an additional 7,883,515 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Oracle by 3.5% in the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,982,630,000 after acquiring an additional 635,994 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,704,523 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,211,307,000 after purchasing an additional 61,604 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,471,884 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $897,342,000 after purchasing an additional 89,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9,299.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,170,999 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $865,472,000 after purchasing an additional 8,084,067 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 0.3 %

Oracle stock traded down $0.35 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $114.53. 7,114,841 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,575,069. The company has a market cap of $314.79 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $93.29 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $119.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.95. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Finally, Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.