Impax Asset Management Group plc Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Impax Asset Management Group plc lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,022,043 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 303,225 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 1.5% of Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Impax Asset Management Group plc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $336,024,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Activest Wealth Management grew its holdings in Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after acquiring an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6 %

Oracle stock opened at $167.92 on Monday. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.58. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $109.66 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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.