Capital Investment Services of America Inc. Sells 8,877 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Capital Investment Services of America Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 231,791 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 8,877 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 3.7% of Capital Investment Services of America Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 7th largest holding. Capital Investment Services of America Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $38,626,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’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 value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $171.52 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $479.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $164.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current 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 given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Oracle 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.