Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.9% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 425,724 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 26,815 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV’s holdings in Oracle were worth $60,112,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Westend Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Finally, Tidemark LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 1.7 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $167.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $140.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $130.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $464.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.14, a PEG ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $173.99. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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 directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,868,820 shares of company stock worth $267,819,424 over the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays upped their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $163.88.

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.