Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Acquires 698,933 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 18.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 4,408,839 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 698,933 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 0.5% of Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 28th biggest position. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $734,689,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Activest Wealth Management increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup upped their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $172.53 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $482.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.18, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.83 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $164.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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 in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s 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.