Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Decreased by SevenBridge Financial Group LLC

SevenBridge Financial Group LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 51,369 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 793 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 1.8% of SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 10th largest position. SevenBridge Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,102,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Atom Investors LP lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 100.2% during the 3rd quarter. Atom Investors LP now owns 8,698 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,482,000 after buying an additional 4,353 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Benjamin Edwards Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1,257.4% during the 3rd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 92,601 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,780,000 after acquiring an additional 85,779 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.91 and a 200-day moving average of $170.02. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-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.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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 net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.65.

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.