Centurion Wealth Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Centurion Wealth Management LLC lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,246 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 68 shares during the period. Centurion Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $374,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $930,095,000. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Amundi lifted its holdings in Oracle by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,012,943,000 after buying an additional 1,623,609 shares during the period. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 3,805.0% in the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 966,571 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $161,069,000 after buying an additional 941,819 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup cut their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.71.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $149.36 on Friday. 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 $165.80 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.63. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $417.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, 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 (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Oracle’s payout ratio 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.