Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 24,004 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Confluence Investment Management LLC cut its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 550,299 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 24,004 shares during the period. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $91,702,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 84.5% during the third quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after buying an additional 395,613 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded down $0.43 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $166.21. 1,201,125 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,338,902. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $178.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $159.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $464.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $101.74 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, January 9th will be paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Company 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.