Davis Selected Advisers Cuts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Davis Selected Advisers reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 137,210 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,058 shares during the quarter. Davis Selected Advisers’ holdings in Oracle were worth $22,865,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted 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. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 3.3 %

ORCL stock opened at $155.89 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $436.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.63 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.10. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $111.18 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.