Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 45,197 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,074,850 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 45,197 shares during the period. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.07% of Oracle worth $345,753,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mpwm Advisory Solutions LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $36,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their price objective 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. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 note on Monday, April 14th. Barclays dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $174.42.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $5.97 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $161.94. The stock had a trading volume of 3,244,867 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,485,651. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $143.76 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $161.60. The stock has a market capitalization of $452.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $114.55 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The business's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.24%. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.