Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) is Appaloosa LP’s 9th Largest Position

Appaloosa LP cut its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 1,400,000 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 173,394 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 3.6% of Appaloosa LP’s holdings, making the stock its 9th largest position. Appaloosa LP owned 0.05% of Oracle worth $233,296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other 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 stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $151.17 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $422.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $166.51 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.49. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.32%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.85.

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.