WINTON GROUP Ltd Sells 26,091 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

WINTON GROUP Ltd cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 71.6% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,325 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 26,091 shares during the period. WINTON GROUP Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,210,181,000. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Oracle by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares during the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 131.2% in the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Parnassus Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 17.7% in the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,539,268,000 after buying an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was 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 owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 in the last quarter. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $162.03 on Monday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $139.85 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $130.16. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $173.93. The firm has a market cap of $446.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.13.

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.