Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio Sells 31,849 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio trimmed its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 681,080 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 31,849 shares during the period. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio's holdings in Oracle were worth $113,495,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Breakthru Advisory Services LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $320,000. Sunbelt Securities Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.8% in the fourth quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 9,410 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,571,000 after acquiring an additional 917 shares during the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $36,000. Breed s Hill Capital LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 48.1% in the fourth quarter. Breed s Hill Capital LLC now owns 6,051 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 1,965 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.9% in the fourth quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 30,917 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,152,000 after acquiring an additional 3,034 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was 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 owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred 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. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $6.09 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $162.06. The company had a trading volume of 3,524,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,893,356. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $143.76 and a 200 day simple moving average of $161.60. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $114.55 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $453.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $174.42.

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.