Athena Investment Management Sells 92 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Athena Investment Management lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.4% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,589 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 92 shares during the period. Athena Investment Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $366,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC increased its position in Oracle by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after acquiring an additional 643,490 shares during the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after purchasing an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.6% in the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 25.0% in the 1st quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after purchasing an additional 1,500 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $155.82 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $138.90 and its 200 day moving average is $129.13. The firm has a market capitalization of $429.42 billion, a PE ratio of 42.00, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $160.52.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Barclays upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $157.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company 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.