Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. Trims Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 169,068 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,393 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for approximately 1.3% of Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Dixon Mitchell Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $28,173,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. Piper Sandler boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $160.21 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $176.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.24. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $105.68 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $448.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.17, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. 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 posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during 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%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Oracle 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.