Ascent Wealth Partners LLC Has $10.90 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 65,433 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 720 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 1.5% of Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th largest position. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $10,904,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 279.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2,899.0% during the 3rd quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 913,700 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $155,694,000 after purchasing an additional 883,233 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $167.92 on Friday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.29. The company has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $109.66 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.