Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Trims Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,288,130 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,534 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $181,884,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after acquiring an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,300,941,000 after buying an additional 697,961 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. JMP Securities raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America increased their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $163.88.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $167.96 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $142.30 and a 200-day moving average price of $131.81. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $173.99. The firm has a market cap of $465.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 45.27, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock worth $230,556,257 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company 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.