Ifrah Financial Services Inc. Decreases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Ifrah Financial Services Inc. trimmed its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.2% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 9,095 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 299 shares during the quarter. Ifrah Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,516,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at $222,000. Creative Planning raised its position in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $132,045,000 after buying an additional 30,341 shares during the last quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 47.1% in the third quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,094 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 2,273 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 0.2 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $173.50 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. UBS Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 11th. KeyCorp raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.