West Oak Capital LLC Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

West Oak Capital LLC cut its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 27,855 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 795 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 1.4% of West Oak Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. West Oak Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,969,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Procyon Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 3.4% in the fourth quarter. Procyon Advisors LLC now owns 70,446 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $7,427,000 after purchasing an additional 2,333 shares during the last quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Spring Capital Management LLC now owns 63,880 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,735,000 after acquiring an additional 1,565 shares in the last quarter. Columbia Trust Co 01012016 purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $236,000. PFG Investments LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 15.9% during the 4th quarter. PFG Investments LLC now owns 12,152 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,670 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Roberts Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 14,254 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,503,000 after acquiring an additional 105 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $107.00 to $106.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded up $0.40 on Thursday, reaching $125.67. The company had a trading volume of 1,330,082 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,127,419. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $89.71 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $345.40 billion, a PE ratio of 33.15, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $116.00 and a 200-day moving average price of $111.37.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

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.