Heartland Advisors Inc. Sells 376 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lessened its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 12,624 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 376 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,331,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 298.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $27,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1,268.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $0.72 during trading on Friday, hitting $122.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,263,341 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,046,686. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $121.05 and its 200 day moving average price is $114.23. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $97.29 and a one year high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $337.74 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.44 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150 over the last three months. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.