Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC Reduces Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 15,880 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,880 shares during the quarter. Azimuth Capital Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,646,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after purchasing an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s 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 owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler decreased their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America decreased their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group decreased their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $178.65.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $139.91 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The business has a 50-day moving average of $156.67 and a 200-day moving average of $168.09. 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 capitalization of $391.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.21, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.43%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.