Longview Partners Guernsey LTD Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Longview Partners Guernsey LTD decreased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 4,613,312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 613,430 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 4.8% of Longview Partners Guernsey LTD’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest position. Longview Partners Guernsey LTD owned approximately 0.17% of Oracle worth $651,400,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth about $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock valued at $230,556,257. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $167.96 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $173.99. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $142.30 and its 200 day moving average is $131.81. The company has a market cap of $465.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. 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.