Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,994 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the period. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $666,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. Mizuho increased their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $174.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.49.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.