ProShare Advisors LLC Buys 20,991 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 366,034 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 20,991 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $60,996,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was 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 directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This trade represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 0.1%

ORCL traded down $0.14 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $159.50. The company's stock had a trading volume of 2,640,526 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,456,587. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $114.55 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $143.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.38. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market cap of $446.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.01, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Evercore ISI lowered their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $160.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, April 16th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut their price target on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

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.