Investment House LLC Cuts Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Investment House LLC decreased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 64,346 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Investment House LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $10,723,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Oracle by 17.9% in the fourth quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 40,718 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,787,000 after purchasing an additional 6,175 shares during the last quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. Stokes Family Office LLC now owns 35,594 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,931,000 after purchasing an additional 392 shares during the last quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Councilmark Asset Management LLC now owns 28,691 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,781,000 after purchasing an additional 111 shares during the last quarter. West Tower Group LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $250,000. Finally, North Forty Two & Co. purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $441,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Barclays cut their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI lowered their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.71.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $149.48 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $418.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.32 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $170.01. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.