Nordea Investment Management AB Sells 989,143 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Nordea Investment Management AB lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 48.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,039,746 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 989,143 shares during the quarter. Nordea Investment Management AB’s holdings in Oracle were worth $173,128,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after acquiring an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC raised its position in Oracle by 84.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America raised their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

Oracle Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $165.58 on Tuesday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $178.48 and its 200 day simple moving average is $160.45. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $102.13 and a one year high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $463.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.48, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

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.