Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. Sells 255,980 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc. reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 37.4% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 428,422 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 255,980 shares during the quarter. Letko Brosseau & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $51,021,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Marquette Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 445.5% in the 2nd quarter. Marquette Asset Management LLC now owns 240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 196 shares in the last quarter. Quintet Private Bank Europe S.A. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Altshuler Shaham Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $32,000. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 48.1% during the 2nd quarter. SJS Investment Consulting Inc. now owns 308 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $37,000 after buying an additional 100 shares during the period. Finally, Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE boosted its position in Oracle by 1,481.5% during the 1st quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 427 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $40,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Up 0.6 %

ORCL stock traded up $0.65 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $116.01. 1,215,218 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,852,380. The company has a market cap of $317.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.33, a P/E/G ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $108.95 and its 200-day moving average price is $111.75. The company has a quick ratio of 0.87, a current ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.72. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $78.06 and a 52 week high of $127.54.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.15 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.48 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 18.40% and a negative return on equity of 3,631.39%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.81 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 26th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 47.62%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. DZ Bank upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Barclays cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, HSBC initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, September 15th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $144.00 price target on the stock. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.23.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 2,325 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total transaction of $264,492.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,023.36. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.