SNS Financial Group LLC Decreases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

SNS Financial Group LLC reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 4,751 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 884 shares during the period. SNS Financial Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $792,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sterling Financial Planning Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $211,000. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 6.6% in the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 124,806 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $20,798,000 after acquiring an additional 7,679 shares during the last quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 3.1% in the 4th quarter. Good Life Advisors LLC now owns 9,880 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,646,000 after acquiring an additional 298 shares during the last quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc raised its holdings in Oracle by 15.7% in the 4th quarter. Financial Perspectives Inc now owns 4,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $756,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allied Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 21.8% in the 4th quarter. Allied Investment Advisors LLC now owns 2,076 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $346,000 after acquiring an additional 371 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $181.51 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $169.09 and a 200 day moving average price of $166.67. The stock has a market cap of $507.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 firm 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%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.