Wambolt & Associates LLC Sells 918 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wambolt & Associates LLC cut its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.8% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,493 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 918 shares during the period. Wambolt & Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $582,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.8 %

Oracle stock opened at $154.98 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $164.89 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.36. The company has a market capitalization of $433.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business 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%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS 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 issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.29%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.