First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. Sells 3,964 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 106,353 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,964 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 2.5% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 18th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $11,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 298.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1,268.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 139.4% in the 4th quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. William Blair raised shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating on the stock. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Trading Up 2.0 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $117.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $119.42 and its 200 day moving average price is $113.11. The company has a market capitalization of $322.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $93.29 and a 12 month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

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.