Pecaut & CO. Cuts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Pecaut & CO. lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 17.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,577 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,975 shares during the period. Pecaut & CO.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,596,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of 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 position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $152.78 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $427.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. 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 stock’s fifty day moving average price is $164.90 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly 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). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 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.