Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Whittier Trust Co.

Whittier Trust Co. decreased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 130,361 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 13,328 shares during the period. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $21,723,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC lifted its holdings in 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 valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in Oracle by 4.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Tranquility Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $213,000. Finally, Prospera Financial Services Inc raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.5% during the 3rd quarter. Prospera Financial Services Inc now owns 24,524 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,181,000 after buying an additional 1,062 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Up 2.0 %

ORCL opened at $152.40 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $426.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.10 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.89. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.