Great Lakes Advisors LLC Decreases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Great Lakes Advisors LLC reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 390,074 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 21,054 shares during the period. Great Lakes Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $65,002,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. The firm has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business has a fifty day moving average of $166.82 and a 200 day moving average of $169.62. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.92.

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.