Ameriprise Financial Inc. Sells 436,139 Shares of Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Ameriprise Financial Inc. reduced its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 6,763,737 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 436,139 shares during the quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. owned 0.24% of Oracle worth $1,486,026,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Snider Financial Group lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.3% in the 2nd quarter. Snider Financial Group now owns 3,204 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $701,000 after acquiring an additional 40 shares in the last quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.9% during the 2nd quarter. SNS Financial Group LLC now owns 4,896 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,070,000 after purchasing an additional 42 shares in the last quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.9% in the 2nd quarter. PKS Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,211 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $483,000 after buying an additional 42 shares during the last quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 7.2% in the second quarter. Reyes Financial Architecture Inc. now owns 643 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $141,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Creative Capital Management Investments LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.7% in the second quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 798 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $174,000 after buying an additional 43 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have commented on ORCL. HSBC reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $382.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, November 26th. Stephens raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $208.00 to $331.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, October 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada reduced their price objective on Oracle from $310.00 to $250.00 and set a “sector perform” rating for the company in a report on Thursday. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $375.00 to $370.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Rothschild & Co Redburn started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, September 25th. They issued a “sell” rating and a $175.00 price objective for the company. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-six have assigned a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $301.57.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $189.64 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 3.28, a quick ratio of 0.62 and a current ratio of 0.91. Oracle Corporation has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $345.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $540.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.65, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.66. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $245.58 and a 200-day moving average of $240.83.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $2.26 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.62. Oracle had a return on equity of 70.60% and a net margin of 25.28%.The firm had revenue of $16.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $16.19 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.47 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 14.2% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Corporation will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, January 23rd. Stockholders of record on Friday, January 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.1%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 37.59%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, EVP Stuart Levey sold 19,758 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total transaction of $5,927,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 18,429 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,528,700. This trade represents a 51.74% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, insider Michael D. Sicilia sold 33,845 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $321.16, for a total transaction of $10,869,660.20. Following the completion of the sale, the insider directly owned 132,656 shares in the company, valued at approximately $42,603,800.96. This represents a 20.33% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 171,513 shares of company stock valued at $50,397,893. 40.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.