Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by SWP Financial LLC

SWP Financial LLC trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.7% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 1,637 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 427 shares during the period. SWP Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Requisite Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 3.8% in the fourth quarter. M3 Advisory Group LLC now owns 3,254 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $542,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vista Investment Partners LLC now owns 35,043 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,840,000 after purchasing an additional 259 shares in the last quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 37.2% in the 4th quarter. Park Edge Advisors LLC now owns 6,843 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,140,000 after buying an additional 1,857 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. grew its holdings in Oracle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. now owns 72,166 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,026,000 after buying an additional 2,975 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $183.59 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $174.41 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $162.64. The firm has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G 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 issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price target on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.