South Dakota Investment Council Has $3.87 Million Stock Position in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

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

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Greenwood Gearhart Inc. now owns 5,731 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $955,000 after acquiring an additional 66 shares during the period. WorthPointe LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. WorthPointe LLC now owns 1,734 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $289,000 after buying an additional 67 shares during the period. Stage Harbor Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Stage Harbor Financial LLC now owns 1,433 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $239,000 after buying an additional 68 shares during the period. Prestige Wealth Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of 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 worth $1,881,000 after buying an additional 70 shares during the period. Finally, Hurlow Wealth Management Group Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 1.7% during the 4th 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 during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 18th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price objective on Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Oppenheimer restated an "outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have issued a buy rating and three have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $218.29.

Oracle Trading Down 2.6%

Oracle stock traded down $6.28 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $237.26. 7,653,255 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,348,565. The firm has a market capitalization of $666.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 54.67, a PEG ratio of 3.66 and a beta of 1.39. Oracle Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $118.86 and a fifty-two week high of $251.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.75, a current ratio of 0.75 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $196.21 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.97.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.08%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead bought 480 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, July 7th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $233.87 per share, with a total value of $112,257.60. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 22,110 shares in the company, valued at $5,170,865.70. This represents a 2.22% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at approximately $209,000,421.92. The trade was a 26.71% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 448,669 shares of company stock valued at $85,555,309 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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.