Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC Decreases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.3% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 6,061 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 80 shares during the period. Worth Financial Advisory Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,010,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during 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 period. United Bank increased its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 16.8% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $325,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank grew its position in Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,296,000 after buying an additional 59 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays decreased their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Citigroup lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Oracle Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $147.71 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s 50 day moving average is $164.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $170.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Oracle 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.