Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by State Street Corp

State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. State Street Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,003,241,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Stevens Capital Management LP boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 159.9% in the third quarter. Stevens Capital Management LP now owns 10,889 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,855,000 after buying an additional 6,699 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 1,967,609 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $335,283,000 after purchasing an additional 34,017 shares in the last quarter. Safe Harbor Fiduciary LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $144,000. Sassicaia Capital Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $2,181,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Oracle by 172.3% during the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 162,071 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,615,000 after buying an additional 102,551 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $188.19 on Thursday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $178.54 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $153.09. The stock has a market cap of $521.49 billion, a PE ratio of 48.50, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $196.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Barclays upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

About Oracle

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.