New York State Teachers Retirement System Sells 61,536 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

New York State Teachers Retirement System decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 1,413,857 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 61,536 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 0.5% of New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest holding. New York State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $235,605,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $486.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $169.94 and a 200 day moving average of $165.29.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased 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. Evercore ISI raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.