Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Cantillon Capital Management LLC

Cantillon Capital Management LLC reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 912,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 27,593 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $155,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Caprock Group LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Caprock Group LLC now owns 86,938 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $14,814,000 after purchasing an additional 461 shares during the period. Caldwell Investment Management Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $995,000. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.9% in the 3rd quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 36,097 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,151,000 after acquiring an additional 1,695 shares during the period. Drive Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 4.2% in the 3rd quarter. Drive Wealth Management LLC now owns 6,891 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,174,000 after purchasing an additional 276 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Capital City Trust Co. FL raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.7% during the third quarter. Capital City Trust Co. FL now owns 39,717 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,768,000 after buying an additional 1,400 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $185.75 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $514.72 billion, a PE ratio of 47.87, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $191.77. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $173.06 and its 200 day moving average price is $147.56.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.24%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. UBS Group reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

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.