First Trust Advisors LP Reduces Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

First Trust Advisors LP trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,639,877 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 195,339 shares during the quarter. First Trust Advisors LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $439,909,000 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. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 0.9 %

Oracle stock opened at $128.56 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $150.85 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. 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 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Mizuho dropped their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment 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 company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.73.

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.