Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Sells 13,109 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 553,279 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 13,109 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 1.1% of Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 26th largest holding. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $77,354,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $930,095,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15,012.3% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 4,755,096 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $664,810,000 after purchasing an additional 4,723,631 shares in the last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 20.5% during the fourth quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,303,858,000 after buying an additional 2,350,448 shares during the period. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $169.00. 3,347,060 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,493,662. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $118.72 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $472.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $145.39 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $160.82.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released 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 net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.18%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 31,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This trade represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.