Natixis Advisors L.P. Sells 15,397 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Natixis Advisors L.P. lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,219,360 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 15,397 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 0.6% of Natixis Advisors L.P.’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Natixis Advisors L.P. owned approximately 0.08% of Oracle worth $233,985,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Bison Wealth LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the third quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $916,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,163 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $755,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the third quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 9,443 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the third quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 21,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,255,000 after purchasing an additional 100 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently commented on the company. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC increased their price target on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $0.19 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $114.82. 2,561,373 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,307,621. The firm has a market cap of $315.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.24, a P/E/G ratio of 2.28 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $94.41 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $119.75 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $113.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.39%. Oracle’s 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 stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company 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.