Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 2,203,570 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 212,792 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $367,203,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $222,000. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Oracle by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,045,000 after acquiring an additional 30,341 shares in the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC increased its position in Oracle by 3.6% during the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 47.1% during the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,094 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,209,000 after buying an additional 2,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.2 %

Oracle stock opened at $173.50 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $169.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.80.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Oracle Company 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.