Castellan Group Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Castellan Group decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 29.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 14,234 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 5,839 shares during the period. Castellan Group’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,372,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC raised its position in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Guggenheim raised their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $172.30 on Thursday. 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 firm has a market cap of $481.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $170.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.24. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.