Dimensional Fund Advisors LP Acquires 223,525 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,660,802 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 223,525 shares during the quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP owned approximately 0.24% of Oracle worth $702,266,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 5.7% in 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 acquiring an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its stake in Oracle by 3.5% during the third quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,982,630,000 after purchasing an additional 635,994 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,223,775,000 after purchasing an additional 204,546 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of 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 buying an additional 89,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its holdings in shares of 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 valued at $865,472,000 after acquiring an additional 8,084,067 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a "market perform" rating to an "outperform" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an "overweight" rating and a $150.00 price objective on the stock. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Up 0.0 %

NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.03 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $116.67. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,122,531 shares, compared to its average volume of 5,949,998. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The company has a market capitalization of $320.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.03. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $120.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $113.71. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $96.33 and a 12 month high of $132.77.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company's stock, valued at $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150. Insiders own 42.80% of the company's stock.

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.

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