NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC trimmed its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.3% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 268,369 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 897 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 1.1% of NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $37,521,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Rockland Trust Co. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the first quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 10,165 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,421,000 after buying an additional 467 shares during the period. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.9% in the first quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA now owns 341,128 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $46,380,000 after buying an additional 21,928 shares during the period. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.3% in the first quarter. Spectrum Asset Management Inc. NB CA now owns 28,358 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,965,000 after buying an additional 88 shares during the period. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 50.8% in the first quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 9,355 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after buying an additional 3,153 shares during the period. Finally, Defined Financial Planning LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.2% in the first quarter. Defined Financial Planning LLC now owns 1,784 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $253,000 after buying an additional 194 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Westpark Capital raised their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. Citigroup raised their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $186.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday. Mizuho cut their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. DA Davidson boosted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Finally, Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $192.30.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $199.67 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $558.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. 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 stock has a 50 day moving average price of $151.06 and a 200-day moving average price of $160.44. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $202.49.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.63 EPS. 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 will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.00%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723. Insiders own 42.20% 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.