Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC Sells 2,023 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC decreased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 27.8% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 5,246 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,023 shares during the period. Signature Estate & Investment Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $894,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its position in Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 63.8% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,256,000 after purchasing an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 1.8 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $183.71 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $172.14 and its 200-day moving average price is $146.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $191.77. The company has a market cap of $509.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.35, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

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.