Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC Sells 45,197 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 2,074,850 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 45,197 shares during the quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC owned 0.07% of Oracle worth $345,753,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 129.0% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler reduced their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays lowered their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $163.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.22. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.