Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.

Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc. cut its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 14.8% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 1,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 301 shares during the quarter. Klein Pavlis & Peasley Financial Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $288,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. State Street Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after acquiring an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $171.52 on Thursday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $170.83 and its two-hundred day moving average is $164.05. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $479.73 billion, a PE ratio of 41.94, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.