Sawgrass Asset Management LLC Sells 62,782 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Sawgrass Asset Management LLC lessened its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 50.9% in the 1st quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 60,574 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 62,782 shares during the period. Sawgrass Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,469,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in Oracle by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in Oracle by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total transaction of $3,211,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. This represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 1,097,576 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 442,366 shares of company stock worth $83,395,223 in the last three months. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $195.00 target price (up previously from $145.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, June 13th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $196.74.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $205.06 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $575.96 billion, a PE ratio of 47.25, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. Oracle Corporation has a 1-year low of $118.86 and a 1-year high of $216.60. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $160.39 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.16.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. Research analysts predict that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.08%.

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.