World Investment Advisors Sells 4,093 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

World Investment Advisors trimmed its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 67,066 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,093 shares during the quarter. World Investment Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $11,176,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Polen Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,787,003,000 after buying an additional 1,955,764 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during 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. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $145.96 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $162.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.85. 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 has a market capitalization of $408.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.