Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 11.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,957,644 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 883,493 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.25% of Oracle worth $1,159,423,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 price target (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle 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 sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 0.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.01 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $138.48. 1,862,055 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 9,343,878. The firm has a market cap of $387.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.83, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $113.65 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $146.54 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.44%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is 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.