Everence Capital Management Inc. Trims Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Everence Capital Management Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 16.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 64,842 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 12,440 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.7% of Everence Capital Management Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 22nd largest position. Everence Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $10,805,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% during 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 during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 15.3% during the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 79.6% in 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 acquiring an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after acquiring an additional 395,613 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. DA Davidson lifted their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Melius Research upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL traded up $0.25 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $166.28. 1,993,996 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 3,588,938. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $178.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $159.90. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $102.13 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $465.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.