Perritt Capital Management Inc Sells 3,968 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Perritt Capital Management Inc decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 56.9% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 3,002 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,968 shares during the quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $500,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th 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 in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position 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 valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. 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. Finally, DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market capitalization of $397.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $162.91 and its 200 day moving average is $170.02.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle 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 transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.