Stevens Capital Management LP Has $1.06 Million Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Stevens Capital Management LP reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 41.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 6,367 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,522 shares during the period. Stevens Capital Management LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 14.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 1,839,085 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $306,465,000 after purchasing an additional 226,135 shares in the last quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 84.1% during the 4th quarter. Blueprint Investment Partners LLC now owns 9,639 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,606,000 after buying an additional 4,404 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 7.7% during the 4th quarter. Mosley Wealth Management now owns 7,154 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,159,000 after buying an additional 514 shares during the period. Guardian Partners Inc. bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $6,875,000. Finally, Fortis Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $667,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $152.83 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $164.87 and a 200 day moving average of $170.06. The company has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS 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 firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.