Primecap Management Co. CA Trims Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Primecap Management Co. CA lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,156,455 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 477,095 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 1.6% of Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. Primecap Management Co. CA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,025,752,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.71.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $154.01 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $165.57 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.95. The company has a market cap of $430.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.