Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Position Decreased by North Star Investment Management Corp.

North Star Investment Management Corp. decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 93,215 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,799 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 1.1% of North Star Investment Management Corp.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 15th biggest holding. North Star Investment Management Corp.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $15,884,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $168.52.

Oracle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $1.52 during midday trading on Tuesday, hitting $171.11. The stock had a trading volume of 1,027,132 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,252,218. The firm has a market cap of $474.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $178.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $164.04 and its 200 day simple moving average is $142.62.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

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.