World Investment Advisors Has $11.18 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

World Investment Advisors decreased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 67,066 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,093 shares during the period. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $11,176,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,954,961,000 after buying an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after acquiring an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $145.96 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $162.14 and a 200-day moving average of $169.85. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $408.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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 the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.