Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Banco Santander S.A.

Banco Santander S.A. grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 115,857 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,260 shares during the quarter. Banco Santander S.A.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $19,306,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of 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 worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $155.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $167.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.10. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.18 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations 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 business posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.