Vista Investment Management Sells 182 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Vista Investment Management reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,306 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 182 shares during the quarter. Vista Investment Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $551,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares in the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after purchasing an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.42.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 0.6%

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $159.46 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $446.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $114.55 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. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $143.08 and its 200-day moving average price is $162.38.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (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 analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.