Eukles Asset Management Sells 1,805 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Eukles Asset Management cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 49.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,854 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,805 shares during the quarter. Eukles Asset Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $309,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $51,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler increased their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, February 1st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

ORCL opened at $174.53 on Monday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $170.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $164.50. 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 $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $488.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.67, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, 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 transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.