Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Heritage Wealth Advisors

Heritage Wealth Advisors reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 13,257 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 975 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $2,209,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 4.0% in the fourth quarter. Borer Denton & Associates Inc. now owns 59,124 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,852,000 after buying an additional 2,290 shares in the last quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 11.2% in the 4th quarter. Core Wealth Partners LLC now owns 6,056 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,009,000 after acquiring an additional 608 shares in the last quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Ausdal Financial Partners Inc. now owns 11,008 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,557 shares during the period. TrueMark Investments LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 101.4% in the fourth quarter. TrueMark Investments LLC now owns 34,603 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,766,000 after purchasing an additional 17,426 shares during the period. Finally, Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 32.0% during the fourth quarter. Financial Engines Advisors L.L.C. now owns 7,849 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,308,000 after purchasing an additional 1,904 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $153.59 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $429.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $164.84 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.44. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. This is a boost 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%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.