Optivise Advisory Services LLC Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Optivise Advisory Services LLC trimmed its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,630 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 179 shares during the quarter. Optivise Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $438,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Van Lanschot Kempen Investment Management N.V. acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $20,477,000. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the 4th quarter. TD Waterhouse Canada Inc. now owns 336,586 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $56,106,000 after acquiring an additional 16,834 shares during the last quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 24.4% during the 4th quarter. Teachers Retirement System of The State of Kentucky now owns 354,868 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $59,135,000 after acquiring an additional 69,559 shares during the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 163.4% in the fourth quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 101,189 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $16,862,000 after purchasing an additional 62,777 shares during the period. Finally, Tradition Wealth Management LLC increased its position in Oracle by 6.4% during the fourth quarter. Tradition Wealth Management LLC now owns 5,426 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $904,000 after purchasing an additional 327 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target for the company. Finally, Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 3rd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.9 %

ORCL stock opened at $128.56 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $150.85 and its 200 day moving average price is $166.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. 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 posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given 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 dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.