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

Impax Asset Management Group plc cut its position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 51.0% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm 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 institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Brighton Jones LLC grew its position in Oracle by 189.3% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $25,593,000 after purchasing an additional 100,494 shares during the last quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.1% in the 4th quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $903,000 after purchasing an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Assetmark Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 374.0% during the fourth quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 51,033 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $8,504,000 after purchasing an additional 40,266 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.5% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 26,853 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $4,475,000 after acquiring an additional 2,101 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 3.2%

Shares of ORCL traded up $7.41 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $237.39. The company had a trading volume of 18,441,376 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,159,668. The stock has a market cap 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 current ratio of 0.75, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $178.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.26. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $237.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 earnings per share. Oracle's revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total value of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares of the company's stock, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 approximately $13,000,580.20. This trade represents a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 440,366 shares of company stock worth $83,103,603 over the last three months. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Oracle from $235.00 to $245.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research note on Wednesday. KeyCorp increased their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $225.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Stifel Nicolaus raised Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and increased their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research note on Monday, June 30th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Mizuho dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-two have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $204.15.

Oracle 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.