Sound Shore Management Inc. CT Trims Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sound Shore Management Inc. CT decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 674,325 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 21,492 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 3.2% of Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. Sound Shore Management Inc. CT’s holdings in Oracle were worth $95,215,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the first quarter worth about $25,000. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. JMP Securities upgraded 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. KeyCorp raised their price target on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chairman now 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $372,764,079.24. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock worth $230,556,257. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $167.96 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $142.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $173.99. The stock 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 results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share 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 return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors 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 presently 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.