Securian Asset Management Inc. Trims Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Securian Asset Management Inc. lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 86,380 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,024 shares during the quarter. Securian Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,394,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.28, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.62. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.92.

About Oracle

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.