Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Down 1.2% Following Insider Selling

Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) shares were down 1.2% during trading on Friday following insider selling activity. The company traded as low as $183.43 and last traded at $184.24. Approximately 4,085,595 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 68% from the average daily volume of 12,920,499 shares. The stock had previously closed at $186.47.

Specifically, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $174.41 and a 200-day moving average of $162.49. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Oracle

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 279.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

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.