Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Holdings Reduced by Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators

Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 15,685 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 117 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 1.3% of Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ portfolio, making the stock its 8th biggest holding. Deseret Mutual Benefit Administrators’ holdings in Oracle were worth $2,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. LifeSteps Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $271,000. Dividend Assets Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Dividend Assets Capital LLC now owns 35,144 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,856,000 after acquiring an additional 6,938 shares during the period. Passumpsic Savings Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $2,114,000. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT now owns 259,458 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $43,236,000 after acquiring an additional 6,973 shares during the period. Finally, Physicians Financial Services Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.1% during the 4th quarter. Physicians Financial Services Inc. now owns 24,167 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,027,000 after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $167.92 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. 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 company has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.02. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $109.66 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.