Empirical Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empirical Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 24.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 11,652 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,698 shares during the period. Empirical Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,986,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the first 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 boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares during the period. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the first 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 buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL traded up $0.43 during trading on Monday, reaching $176.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 824,020 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,497,160. The firm has a market cap of $485.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $178.61. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $151.64 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.92. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Melius Research raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $167.42.

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.