Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. Has $666,000 Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc. reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,994 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Alan B Lancz & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $666,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 84.5% in the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $174.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $162.49. The firm has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a PE ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the company. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.