Insider Selling: Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Director Sells 17,500 Shares of Stock

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $0.12 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $150.18. The company had a trading volume of 4,698,183 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,433,940. The company's 50-day moving average is $142.12 and its 200-day moving average is $163.02. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $114.55 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $420.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Institutional Trading of Oracle

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in 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 last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its position in Oracle by 12.5% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,269,566,000 after buying an additional 2,176,892 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on Oracle and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Westpark Capital began coverage on Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen 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. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

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.