Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Reduced by Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.

Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc. trimmed its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 20,458 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 302 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 1.7% of Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Signet Investment Advisory Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,409,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Schear Investment Advisers LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 23.1% during the 4th quarter. Schear Investment Advisers LLC now owns 9,137 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,523,000 after acquiring an additional 1,714 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Leavell Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. Leavell Investment Management Inc. now owns 33,857 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,642,000 after purchasing an additional 986 shares during the period. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI increased its stake in Oracle by 2.2% in the 4th quarter. Fishman Jay A Ltd. MI now owns 29,106 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,850,000 after purchasing an additional 636 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quent Capital LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Quent Capital LLC now owns 13,589 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,264,000 after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $177.18 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $495.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.32, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $170.37 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.97. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.