Castle Wealth Management LLC Reduces Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Castle Wealth Management LLC lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,551 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 673 shares during the period. Castle Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,425,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 157.0% during the 3rd quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $782,000 after buying an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Oracle by 4.1% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,045,000 after buying an additional 30,341 shares during the last quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 287.4% during the 3rd quarter. EdgeRock Capital LLC now owns 2,673 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $456,000 after buying an additional 1,983 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Braun Bostich & Associates Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $203,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $172.30 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $170.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.24. The stock has a market cap of $481.92 billion, a PE ratio of 42.13, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued 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 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.