Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Increased by XTX Topco Ltd

XTX Topco Ltd increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1,448.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 19,558 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,295 shares during the period. Oracle makes up about 0.3% of XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest holding. XTX Topco Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,259,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the sale, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $132.27 on Monday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $155.25 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $167.63. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 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 $369.94 billion, a PE ratio of 32.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results 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 firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.51%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

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.