Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 989,143 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Nordea Investment Management AB cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 48.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 1,039,746 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 989,143 shares during the period. Nordea Investment Management AB's holdings in Oracle were worth $173,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in Oracle by 5,853.1% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $219,224,000 after buying an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $3.73 on Tuesday, hitting $161.96. The stock had a trading volume of 7,707,869 shares, compared to its average volume of 6,448,891. The company has a market capitalization of $452.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm's 50 day moving average price is $178.25 and its 200-day moving average price is $160.59. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $102.13 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle's quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Barclays lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $181.48.

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.