Simmons Bank Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Simmons Bank lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 45,538 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 345 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,588,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $168.51 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.79 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $471.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.94 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.12.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. 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 currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.