Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Lessened by Impax Asset Management Group plc

Impax Asset Management Group plc reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 51.0% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 990,041 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 1,032,002 shares during the quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc's holdings in Oracle were worth $137,274,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $955,000 after buying an additional 66 shares during the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $289,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the last quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. J. L. Bainbridge & Co. Inc. now owns 1,354 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $226,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, June 12th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. CIBC reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.15.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 60,722 shares of the company's stock, valued at $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL traded up $7.41 during trading on Friday, reaching $237.39. The stock had a trading volume of 18,441,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,668. The firm has a market capitalization of $666.79 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current 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 $237.99. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $178.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released 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 the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The firm'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 firm posted $1.63 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

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.