K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 39.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,150 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,000 shares during the quarter. K.J. Harrison & Partners Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,021,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $172.37 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.79 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.15. The stock has a market cap of $482.11 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s payout ratio 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.