California Public Employees Retirement System Decreases Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

California Public Employees Retirement System trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 3,909,609 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 717,754 shares during the quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $651,497,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th 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 during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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 approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays reduced their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Down 3.5 %

ORCL stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $163.94 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.22. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.