Avity Investment Management Inc. Sells 19,365 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Avity Investment Management Inc. lessened its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 35.2% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,704 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 19,365 shares during the period. Avity Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $25,000. Westend Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter worth approximately $25,000. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Finally, Nordwand Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. HSBC increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $142.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Citigroup reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $133.00 to $128.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, June 10th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $145.83.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total transaction of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,068,976. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL traded up $1.02 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $141.20. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 25,814,821 shares, compared to its average volume of 11,264,646. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $145.32. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $125.24 and its 200-day moving average is $117.96. The firm has a market cap of $389.13 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.06, a P/E/G ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.01.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

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.