Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. Has $5.07 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sumitomo Life Insurance Co. lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 26.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 30,429 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,374 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Life Insurance Co.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,071,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 16,023.4% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund boosted its stake in Oracle by 2,899.0% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 913,700 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 883,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $164.12 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $459.04 billion, a PE ratio of 40.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.85 and a 200 day simple moving average of $162.89. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target for the company. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.