Metropolis Capital Ltd Sells 643,090 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Metropolis Capital Ltd reduced its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 57.2% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 481,837 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 643,090 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 2.2% of Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Metropolis Capital Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $57,382,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.7% in the first quarter. Carolinas Wealth Consulting LLC now owns 14,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.7% in the first quarter. Princeton Global Asset Management LLC now owns 16,171 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 106 shares during the period. McAdam LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.9% in the first quarter. McAdam LLC now owns 5,821 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $541,000 after acquiring an additional 107 shares during the period. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,931 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,016,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares during the period. Finally, Sentinus LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.7% in the first quarter. Sentinus LLC now owns 3,138 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $292,000 after acquiring an additional 111 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $113.66 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $311.41 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.83, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.00. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $117.33 and a 200 day moving average price of $105.89. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.72, a current ratio of 0.87 and a quick ratio of 0.91. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $60.78 and a 12 month high of $127.54.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.15 by $0.04. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 3,631.39% and a net margin of 18.40%. The company had revenue of $12.45 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.48 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.48 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, October 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 47.62%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Guggenheim upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $120.00 to $150.00 in a research report on Tuesday, June 13th. Piper Sandler reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $130.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $131.00 and gave the stock an “in-line” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $112.00 to $132.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 13th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and thirteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.06.

Insider Activity

In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 354,837 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.39, for a total value of $43,783,337.43. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,543,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,784,841.87. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 354,837 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.39, for a total value of $43,783,337.43. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,543,033 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $313,784,841.87. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,750,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.95, for a total value of $211,662,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $138,576,328,095.35. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 3,949,837 shares of company stock valued at $482,142,887 over the last three months. Insiders own 43.70% of the company’s stock.

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.