Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA trimmed its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 25.8% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 2,997 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,042 shares during the period. Wedgewood Investors Inc. PA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.2 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $173.50 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

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.