Marathon Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Marathon Asset Management Ltd cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 345,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 33,982 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 1.6% of Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 14th biggest position. Marathon Asset Management Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $58,837,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 25.0% during the first quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 55.7% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 22,315 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,151,000 after buying an additional 7,982 shares in the last quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 7.5% in the third quarter. Wesbanco Bank Inc. now owns 126,123 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $21,491,000 after acquiring an additional 8,790 shares during the period. Finally, Edgestream Partners L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 91.7% in the first quarter. Edgestream Partners L.P. now owns 13,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,730,000 after purchasing an additional 6,587 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 0.5 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $175.63 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $178.61. The stock has a market capitalization of $484.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.34, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $155.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $138.15.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Bank of America lifted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

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.