Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA Sells 2,963,979 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 36.4% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,179,042 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,963,979 shares during the quarter. Massachusetts Financial Services Co. MA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $882,509,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position 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 valued at $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares in the last quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,015,862,000 after purchasing an additional 66,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners raised its stake in Oracle by 32.3% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,037,100 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $756,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,734 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $190.76 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $191.77. The stock has a market cap of $528.61 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.17, a PEG ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $174.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $148.37. 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 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 firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors 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 0.84%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. UBS Group restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.