Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Avalon Capital Management

Avalon Capital Management cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,771 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 738 shares during the quarter. Avalon Capital Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,462,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $709,000. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $248,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Wrapmanager Inc. now owns 9,685 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,614,000 after purchasing an additional 471 shares during the last quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.0% during the fourth quarter. Mengis Capital Management Inc. now owns 4,178 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $696,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $201,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Oracle

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $170.00 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $475.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $168.97 and a 200 day moving average price of $167.87. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $109.79 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.