Empower Advisory Group LLC Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empower Advisory Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 17,066 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,619 shares during the period. Empower Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,844,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 280,514 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $46,745,000 after buying an additional 13,424 shares during the last quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 59.7% in the fourth quarter. Pittenger & Anderson Inc. now owns 43,463 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,243,000 after buying an additional 16,245 shares during the last quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 109.3% in the fourth quarter. Woodard & Co. Asset Management Group Inc. ADV now owns 9,119 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,520,000 after buying an additional 4,762 shares during the last quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. NTV Asset Management LLC now owns 6,033 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,005,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.2% in the fourth quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 315,749 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,797,000 after buying an additional 9,670 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $179.78 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $166.24. 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 stock has a market cap of $502.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.96, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.89%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle 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 value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Guggenheim lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

About Oracle

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.