Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Holdings Lowered by Avalon Capital Management

Avalon Capital Management trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 8,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Avalon Capital Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $709,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $248,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.1% in the 4th quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 9,685 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,614,000 after acquiring an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.0% in the 4th quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $696,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $201,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $170.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $168.97 and a 200-day moving average of $167.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $475.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $109.79 and a 52 week 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 announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

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.