Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Purchases 2,093,893 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 97.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,093,893 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned about 0.15% of Oracle worth $532,920,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Invst LLC grew its position in Oracle by 2.7% in the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 7,334 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $773,000 after acquiring an additional 86 shares during the period. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $898,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,244 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $342,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. Finally, Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,435 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,525,000 after acquiring an additional 90 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,952,500 shares of company stock valued at $277,298,174 in the last quarter. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, June 17th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, June 6th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 25th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Oracle Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of ORCL stock traded down $0.94 on Monday, hitting $138.07. 841,364 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,443,911. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $146.59. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $135.07 and its 200 day simple moving average is $123.43. The stock has a market capitalization of $380.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. Oracle’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Oracle 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.