Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) is Harrington Investments INC’s 6th Largest Position

Harrington Investments INC lowered its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 36,719 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 904 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 3.4% of Harrington Investments INC’s holdings, making the stock its 6th biggest position. Harrington Investments INC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,119,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc raised its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $395,295,000 after purchasing an additional 53,128 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the period. Finally, MQS Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $277,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s 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 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reduced their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday. Finally, DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Up 1.2 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $149.36 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $417.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $165.80 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.41. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

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.