Archford Capital Strategies LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Archford Capital Strategies LLC trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 27.1% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,129 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,534 shares during the quarter. Archford Capital Strategies LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $688,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $183.59 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $174.41 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.64. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was 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 directly 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.