Keene & Associates Inc. Trims Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Keene & Associates Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 27,671 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 564 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 3.2% of Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 5th largest position. Keene & Associates Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,907,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 41.5% during the fourth quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Hancock Whitney Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.7% in the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,089,000 after buying an additional 3,291 shares during the period. Heritage Wealth Advisors increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% in the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,792,000 after buying an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory raised its stake in Oracle by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the period. Finally, Goelzer Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 25.0% during the first quarter. Goelzer Investment Management Inc. now owns 7,492 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $941,000 after acquiring an additional 1,500 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.4 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $162.03 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $99.26 and a 52-week high of $173.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market cap of $446.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.67, a PEG ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.85 and its 200-day moving average is $130.16.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $159.00 to $171.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating and set a $175.00 price target for the company in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, DA Davidson upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $161.13.

Insider Activity

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 over the last ninety days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.