National Pension Service Purchases 52,641 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

National Pension Service grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 2,722,472 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 52,641 shares during the quarter. National Pension Service owned approximately 0.10% of Oracle worth $287,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $8,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the period. Quantum Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $229,000. Cooper Financial Group lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $171,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,071,294.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150 over the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an "overweight" rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. HSBC upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a "market perform" rating on the stock. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded down $0.82 during trading on Thursday, hitting $116.57. 3,236,172 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,150,866. The firm has a market cap of $320.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The stock's fifty day moving average is $120.30 and its 200 day moving average is $113.59. 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 one year low of $96.26 and a one year high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.