Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by BNP Paribas

BNP Paribas lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 75.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 72,560 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 31,093 shares during the period. BNP Paribas' holdings in Oracle were worth $12,068,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 23.9% in the 4th quarter. Burkett Financial Services LLC now owns 1,328 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $221,000 after purchasing an additional 256 shares in the last quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 3.0% during the 4th quarter. Neville Rodie & Shaw Inc. now owns 173,290 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $28,877,000 after buying an additional 5,084 shares during the period. Kozak & Associates Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.5% in the fourth quarter. Kozak & Associates Inc. now owns 1,564 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $260,000 after buying an additional 82 shares during the period. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the fourth quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 75,417 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $12,567,000 after acquiring an additional 1,605 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup lowered their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Mizuho reduced their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, DA Davidson reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $150.77 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $143.62 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $163.82. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $114.55 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $421.70 billion, a PE ratio of 36.86, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

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

About Oracle

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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