Sepio Capital LP Grows Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sepio Capital LP boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 42,882 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 629 shares during the quarter. Sepio Capital LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,146,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. MIG Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $331,000. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares during the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co grew its stake in Oracle by 39.2% during the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 266,087 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $44,341,000 after acquiring an additional 75,000 shares in the last quarter. Rahlfs Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,626,000. Finally, Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 over the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company’s 50 day moving average is $160.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.