Bessemer Securities LLC Decreases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Bessemer Securities LLC decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 44.1% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 12,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 9,700 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 1.0% of Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Bessemer Securities LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 94,707.5% in the second quarter. Bank Julius Baer & Co. Ltd Zurich now owns 1,122,984,792 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $133,736,259,000 after purchasing an additional 1,121,800,302 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,409,896,000. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Oracle by 112,785.9% during the 4th quarter. Moneta Group Investment Advisors LLC now owns 10,832,530 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $885,451,000 after buying an additional 10,822,934 shares during the last quarter. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 50.0% in the 1st quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 10,989,627 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,021,156,000 after acquiring an additional 3,664,269 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.2% during the first quarter. FMR LLC now owns 24,369,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,264,450,000 after purchasing an additional 2,644,377 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Barclays cut their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $147.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, September 12th. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price target on Oracle from $132.00 to $130.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, September 25th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 7th. UBS Group cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 12th. Finally, DZ Bank upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on the stock in a research report on Thursday, September 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and sixteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $124.23.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director George H. Conrades sold 2,325 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $113.76, for a total value of $264,492.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,029,023.36. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ORCL traded up $0.46 on Monday, reaching $115.82. 614,868 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,849,257. The company has a current ratio of 0.87, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 29.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $108.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $111.75. The stock has a market capitalization of $317.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.92 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $78.06 and a fifty-two week high of $127.54.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 26th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 12th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, October 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 47.62%.

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.