Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Cape Investment Advisory Inc.

Cape Investment Advisory Inc. lowered its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 58.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 359 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 508 shares during the period. Cape Investment Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $45,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,210,181,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 382.4% during the 4th quarter. Boston Partners now owns 4,563,366 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $481,820,000 after purchasing an additional 3,617,413 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.1% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, July 12th. Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares in the company, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 1,907,500 shares of company stock valued at $272,074,924 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 3.1 %

NYSE:ORCL traded down $4.23 on Friday, reaching $133.28. The stock had a trading volume of 8,251,585 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,048,810. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The company has a 50-day moving average of $136.33 and a 200 day moving average of $124.38. The stock has a market cap of $367.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $146.59.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.20%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

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.