Vestcor Inc Sells 2,618 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Vestcor Inc reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 100,932 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,618 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,819,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 581.8% in the fourth quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 136,603 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $22,764,000 after purchasing an additional 116,568 shares during the last quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 121.5% in the fourth quarter. Rakuten Securities Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $273,000 after purchasing an additional 899 shares during the last quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc. now owns 106,371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $17,726,000 after purchasing an additional 3,581 shares during the last quarter. Essential Planning LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $1,569,000. Finally, Forge First Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 93.8% in the fourth quarter. Forge First Asset Management Inc. now owns 12,600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,100,000 after purchasing an additional 6,100 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. Bank of America decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.85.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 4.8 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $151.17 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $166.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.49. The firm has a market cap of $422.81 billion, a PE ratio of 36.96, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.32%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.