Fiduciary Group LLC Lowers Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Fiduciary Group LLC decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 46,008 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 176 shares during the quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,667,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd 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 in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.5% in the third quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 24,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,181,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $152.40 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $165.10 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.89. The firm has a market cap of $426.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

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.