New York State Common Retirement Fund Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

New York State Common Retirement Fund lessened its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,021,805 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 35,045 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 0.5% of New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings, making the stock its 28th biggest position. New York State Common Retirement Fund’s holdings in Oracle were worth $336,914,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. GFG Capital LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. GFG Capital LLC now owns 21,058 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,588,000 after purchasing an additional 1,816 shares during the period. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.1% in the 3rd quarter. Raleigh Capital Management Inc. now owns 6,674 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,137,000 after purchasing an additional 559 shares during the period. Finally, Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.9% in the 3rd quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 51,549 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,784,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. 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 report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $179.78 on Wednesday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.03 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.57. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $502.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.96, a PEG ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.05.

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 business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through 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.