Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 368,957 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,601,205 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 368,957 shares during the period. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned approximately 0.06% of Oracle worth $266,825,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. FMR LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after buying an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after buying an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Piper Sandler restated a “neutral” rating and set a $130.00 target price (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Bank of America decreased 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. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $150.38 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $142.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.20. 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 $114.55 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $420.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.