ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 505,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 17,413 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 3.5% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th largest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $84,275,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Sanford C. Bernstein increased their target price on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, December 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $161.05 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $175.44 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.58.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.