Waterloo Capital L.P. Cuts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Waterloo Capital L.P. cut its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,821 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 473 shares during the period. Waterloo Capital L.P.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,970,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 22.3% during the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock worth $453,791,001 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup dropped their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $160.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.34. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly 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 period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. 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.