Scientech Research LLC Reduces Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Scientech Research LLC lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 56.1% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,190 shares during the quarter. Scientech Research LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $242,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after purchasing an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Matrix Private Capital Group LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $217,000. Maverick Capital Ltd. raised its position in Oracle by 37.5% in the second quarter. Maverick Capital Ltd. now owns 17,122 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,418,000 after acquiring an additional 4,668 shares during the period. MBB Public Markets I LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1,903.0% during the 2nd quarter. MBB Public Markets I LLC now owns 149,244 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $21,073,000 after acquiring an additional 141,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dark Forest Capital Management LP bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $856,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

ORCL opened at $170.39 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $173.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $145.57 and a 200 day moving average of $134.11. The firm has a market cap of $472.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.93, a P/E/G ratio of 3.05 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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company 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 $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft lifted their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. JMP Securities raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 target price for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Ten 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 price target of $167.42.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total value of $60,575,844.51. Following the sale, the insider now 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. Insiders sold a total of 1,573,181 shares of company stock valued at $225,338,245 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.