Carmel Capital Partners LLC Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Carmel Capital Partners LLC lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 19.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,661 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,294 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 0.9% of Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Carmel Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,276,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 2.7 %

ORCL stock opened at $161.75 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $110.67 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $452.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.31 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.10.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend 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.