Cantillon Capital Management LLC Decreases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cantillon Capital Management LLC reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 912,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 27,593 shares during the period. Cantillon Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $155,470,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Capital World Investors grew its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after acquiring an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after purchasing an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Oracle by 6.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,015,862,000 after buying an additional 66,444 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. JMP Securities boosted their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $185.75 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $191.77. The stock has a market cap of $514.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.87, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $173.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.56.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.