Sit Investment Associates Inc. Sells 5,835 Shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL)

Sit Investment Associates Inc. reduced its position in shares of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 109,191 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 5,835 shares during the quarter. Sit Investment Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $15,266,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.2% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 160,925,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,498,982,000 after acquiring an additional 3,513,464 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the 4th 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 last quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 20.5% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 13,825,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,303,858,000 after acquiring an additional 2,350,448 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 17.6% in the 1st quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 12,609,101 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,762,878,000 after acquiring an additional 1,885,370 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the 1st quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 10,975,191 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,534,624,000 after acquiring an additional 94,236 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total transaction of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Clayton M. Magouyrk sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, June 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $214.10, for a total value of $3,211,500.00. Following the transaction, the insider owned 60,722 shares in the company, valued at $13,000,580.20. The trade was a 19.81% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock worth $86,521,198. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 3.7%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $244.40 on Thursday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $227.58 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $179.21. Oracle Corporation has a 1 year low of $118.86 and a 1 year high of $260.87. The company has a market capitalization of $686.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 56.31, a P/E/G ratio of 3.79 and a beta of 1.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a current ratio of 0.75 and a quick ratio of 0.75.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 87.34% and a net margin of 21.68%. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.08%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $295.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $185.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Oracle from $215.00 to $270.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, July 14th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-three have given a buy rating and three have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $222.75.

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.