Rodgers Brothers Inc. Sells 200 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Rodgers Brothers Inc. trimmed its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,364 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Rodgers Brothers Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $394,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. DA Davidson restated a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.00.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $140.07 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $391.77 billion, a PE ratio of 34.25, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $163.52 and a 200 day moving average of $170.16.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 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 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 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 trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.