Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Decreases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.5% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 681,080 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 31,849 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio’s holdings in Oracle were worth $113,495,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $36,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, DA Davidson dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE ORCL opened at $157.27 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $114.55 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $439.88 billion, a PE ratio of 38.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $143.55 and a two-hundred day moving average of $162.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.27%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.