Cynosure Group LLC Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cynosure Group LLC lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 29.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,004 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 823 shares during the quarter. Cynosure Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $334,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have commented on ORCL. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related 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 value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $145.96 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $162.14 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.85. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $408.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share 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 given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

About Oracle

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.