Plato Investment Management Ltd Sells 2,198 Shares of Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.9%, selling 2,198 shares to hold a total of 35,137 shares valued at approximately $4.97 million.
• Several institutional investors have increased their stakes in Oracle, including Advisory Alpha LLC which grew its holdings by 12.4%, now owning shares valued at $503,000.
• Oracle announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share to be paid on October 23rd, representing an annualized yield of 0.8%.

Plato Investment Management Ltd cut its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.9% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 35,137 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,198 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd's holdings in Oracle were worth $4,966,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. raised its stake in Oracle by 71.6% in the 1st quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. now owns 257,378 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $35,984,000 after acquiring an additional 107,404 shares during the period. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. raised its stake in Oracle by 4.3% in the 1st quarter. Lockheed Martin Investment Management Co. now owns 51,350 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $7,179,000 after acquiring an additional 2,110 shares during the period. Nuveen LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at $732,692,000. Rockland Trust Co. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% during the 1st quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,421,000 after purchasing an additional 467 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Calamos Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the 1st quarter. Calamos Advisors LLC now owns 711,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $99,445,000 after purchasing an additional 10,426 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $9,507,622.93. The trade was a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider directly owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 44,183 shares of company stock worth $10,353,198 over the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $15.79 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $292.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 51,618,969 shares, compared to its average volume of 20,941,788. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $345.72. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $244.69 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $190.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.62 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $820.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 67.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.10 and a beta of 1.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 72.93% and a net margin of 21.08%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.7%. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.30%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, September 8th. BMO Capital Markets set a $345.00 price target on Oracle in a report on Wednesday. Wolfe Research lifted their price target on Oracle from $300.00 to $400.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a report on Wednesday. CIBC reissued a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Monday, June 9th. Finally, Melius Research lifted their price target on Oracle from $270.00 to $370.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-five have assigned a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $296.84.

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.