PGGM Investments Trims Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

PGGM Investments trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 61.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 18,400 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 29,483 shares during the period. PGGM Investments' holdings in Oracle were worth $1,940,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,982,630,000 after acquiring an additional 635,994 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,704,523 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,211,307,000 after acquiring an additional 61,604 shares during the period. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,471,884 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $897,342,000 after acquiring an additional 89,876 shares during the period. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in Oracle by 9,299.3% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,170,999 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $865,472,000 after acquiring an additional 8,084,067 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. William Blair raised shares of Oracle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. HSBC upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded down $0.71 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $116.50. The company had a trading volume of 5,189,586 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,437,914. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.85 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The company has a 50 day moving average of $119.42 and a 200-day moving average of $113.16. The firm has a market cap of $320.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.35 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.