Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC Reduces Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 60,834 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 257 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 2.0% of Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest position. Cyrus J. Lawrence LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $10,137,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $930,095,000. Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 22.3% during the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,012,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623,609 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Piper Sandler decreased their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $152.83 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $164.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.85. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

About Oracle

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.