Sycomore Asset Management Sells 47,774 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sycomore Asset Management lessened its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 56.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 37,446 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 47,774 shares during the period. Sycomore Asset Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,967,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the period. Quantum Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $229,000. Cooper Financial Group boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 43.4% in the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $171,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.30 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $115.39. 5,787,354 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,500,789. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $93.29 and a one year high of $132.77. The firm has a market capitalization of $317.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.45, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.26 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages recently commented on ORCL. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price for the company. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, HSBC increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

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.