Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison Sells 1,125,000 Shares

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $3.35 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $139.26. 8,443,262 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,598,506. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $131.87 and its 200 day simple moving average is $121.42. The company has a market cap of $383.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.84, a PEG ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $146.59. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Oracle

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 1st quarter worth $25,000. Tidemark LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth $35,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

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.