Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co Reduces Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.8% during the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 246,982 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 57,222 shares during the period. Varma Mutual Pension Insurance Co’s holdings in Oracle were worth $34,874,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Waddell & Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the second quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 7,525 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,063,000 after buying an additional 257 shares during the period. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 9,530 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,346,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. Ballentine Partners LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.6% in the 2nd quarter. Ballentine Partners LLC now owns 30,892 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,362,000 after purchasing an additional 1,346 shares in the last quarter. Caprock Group LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 51.8% in the 2nd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 86,477 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,211,000 after purchasing an additional 29,523 shares during the period. Finally, Anchor Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 29.9% during the 2nd quarter. Anchor Capital Advisors LLC now owns 6,075 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $858,000 after purchasing an additional 1,400 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.80 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $141.81. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 11,154,796 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,056,655. 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 stock has a market cap of $390.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $138.72 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $128.47. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $146.59.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.87.

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.