ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd Lowers Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 43.3% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 517,993 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 396,159 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 3.0% of ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 14th largest position. ANTIPODES PARTNERS Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $86,325,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after acquiring an additional 97,635 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. 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 assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.85.

Oracle Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $151.17 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $422.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.51 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.49. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.32%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company 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.