Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Diversify Advisory Services LLC

Diversify Advisory Services LLC lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 38.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 13,139 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 8,133 shares during the quarter. Diversify Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,030,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective 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 note on Tuesday, December 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $161.05 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.46. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid 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 yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

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.