ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.3% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 523,144 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 7,086 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for 3.6% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 2nd biggest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $89,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors increased its stake in Oracle by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc increased its stake in Oracle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after purchasing an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after acquiring an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JMP Securities raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target on the stock in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $167.42.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $174.78 on Thursday. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $154.50 and its 200-day moving average price is $137.88. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock has a market cap of $481.67 billion, a PE ratio of 47.11, a PEG ratio of 3.29 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $178.61.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.