Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Hancock Whitney Corp

Hancock Whitney Corp trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 25,613 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,129 shares during the quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,364,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have weighed in on the company. Melius Research raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $194.26 on Monday. The stock has a market capitalization of $538.31 billion, a PE ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $175.62 and a 200-day moving average of $149.64. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $196.04.

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, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.82%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

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.