Sapient Capital LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sapient Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 43.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 18,394 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,542 shares during the period. Sapient Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,134,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. increased its stake in Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 25.0% during the first quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 55.7% during the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,151,000 after acquiring an additional 7,982 shares in the last quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. grew its stake in Oracle by 91.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,587 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. increased its holdings in Oracle by 10.7% during the 3rd quarter. Canandaigua National Bank & Trust Co. now owns 73,812 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,578,000 after purchasing an additional 7,159 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Argus increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America boosted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.42.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

Oracle stock traded up $0.79 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $176.56. 603,536 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,496,047. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a market cap of $486.57 billion, a PE ratio of 47.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $151.64 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $136.92. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $178.61.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.91%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

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.