Argent Capital Management LLC Sells 3,660 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Argent Capital Management LLC cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 158,791 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,660 shares during the period. Argent Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $26,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth about $44,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

ORCL stock opened at $158.35 on Thursday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $105.42 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company’s 50 day moving average price is $176.99 and its 200 day moving average price is $161.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $442.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.72, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.01%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Oracle Company 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.