Steph & Co. Trims Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Steph & Co. lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 40.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 373 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 249 shares during the period. Steph & Co.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $62,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.7% in the second quarter. Meiji Yasuda Asset Management Co Ltd. now owns 33,689 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,757,000 after purchasing an additional 2,103 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P. grew its stake in Oracle by 6.1% in the second quarter. Waterloo Capital L.P. now owns 8,934 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,261,000 after purchasing an additional 510 shares in the last quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% during the 2nd quarter. LJI Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,858 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $686,000 after purchasing an additional 3,248 shares during the period. Finally, WCG Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in Oracle by 26.9% during the 2nd quarter. WCG Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 56,602 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,992,000 after purchasing an additional 12,014 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $159.73 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average of $176.53 and a 200 day moving average of $161.22. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $105.68 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $446.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current 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 dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.00%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup raised their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

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.