Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Schnieders Capital Management LLC

Key Points

• Schnieders Capital Management LLC has reduced its stake in Oracle Corporation by 18.2%, now holding 44,326 shares worth approximately $6.2 million.
• Oracle has received numerous upgrades from analysts, with JMP Securities increasing the target price to $315 and maintaining a "market outperform" rating.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.50 per share, representing an annualized yield of 0.8% and a payout ratio of 46.08%.

Schnieders Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 18.2% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 44,326 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 9,830 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 1.3% of Schnieders Capital Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Schnieders Capital Management LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $6,197,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after buying an additional 3,513,464 shares during the period. Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after buying an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 20.5% in 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 valued at $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Oracle by 4.3% in the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 8,046,273 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,340,830,000 after acquiring an additional 335,352 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its stake in Oracle by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,821,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,136,665,000 after acquiring an additional 585,560 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. DA Davidson upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $222.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 31,447 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. This represents a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 428,303 shares of company stock worth $82,480,056. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.3%

ORCL stock traded up $0.85 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $256.52. The company had a trading volume of 9,919,562 shares, compared to its average volume of 10,380,186. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $217.36 and a 200 day simple moving average of $176.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $720.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 59.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.81 and a beta of 1.43. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $260.87.

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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.63 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

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.