Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by South Dakota Investment Council

South Dakota Investment Council lessened its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 56.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,670 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 35,431 shares during the period. South Dakota Investment Council's holdings in Oracle were worth $3,869,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $955,000 after buying an additional 66 shares in the last quarter. WorthPointe LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 67 shares in the last quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC raised its stake 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 purchasing an additional 68 shares in the last quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 11,288 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,881,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. now owns 4,149 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $691,000 after purchasing an additional 70 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Raymond James Financial reissued a "strong-buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft reissued a "buy" rating and set a $240.00 target price (up previously from $200.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, June 12th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $221.00 price target (up from $202.00) on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, June 13th. Finally, UBS Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $250.00 to $280.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have assigned a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $218.29.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total transaction of $770,655.96. Following the completion of the sale, the director directly owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company's stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,669 shares of company stock worth $85,555,309 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.6%

ORCL stock traded up $3.77 on Wednesday, hitting $241.88. 3,219,034 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,354,786. Oracle Corporation has a 12-month low of $118.86 and a 12-month high of $251.60. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $196.21 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.97. 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 stock has a market cap of $679.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 55.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.63 and a beta of 1.39.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect 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 paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.83%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.