Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Has $136.78 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 835,427 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 26,983 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 0.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $136,781,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth $40,000. Finally, Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. Melius upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Melius Research raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $171.52.

Oracle Trading Down 1.0 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $186.24 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $196.04. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $178.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $153.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $516.08 billion, a PE ratio of 48.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.86%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 41.24%.

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.