Yacktman Asset Management LP Sells 26,500 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Yacktman Asset Management LP reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% in the second quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 883,535 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 26,500 shares during the period. Yacktman Asset Management LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $124,755,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 17.7% in the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the 4th quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after purchasing an additional 697,961 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded up $1.71 on Thursday, reaching $142.46. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 3,815,997 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,009,843. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $138.66 and a 200 day simple moving average of $128.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. The company has a market cap of $392.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.37, a PEG ratio of 2.55 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $146.59.

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). The company had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.35 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.12%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Bank of America increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. KeyCorp increased their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of 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 given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

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.