Douglas Lane & Associates LLC Cuts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Douglas Lane & Associates LLC reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 609,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 11,575 shares during the period. Douglas Lane & Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $76,543,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Orion Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. Finally, Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $36,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Bank of America lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $125.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $144.79.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded down $1.41 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $141.50. 14,930,875 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 10,410,959. The stock has a market cap of $388.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.59 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $123.07 and a 200-day simple moving average of $117.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $145.32.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.35 EPS. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.