Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Foster & Motley Inc.

Foster & Motley Inc. reduced its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 104,584 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,508 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises approximately 1.1% of Foster & Motley Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Foster & Motley Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,428,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Susquehanna Fundamental Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth about $1,516,000. Advisory Alpha LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $255,000. Brown Financial Advisors acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $864,000. Creekside Partners acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $425,000. Finally, Sanctuary Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $36,127,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One 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 assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $162.22 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $173.36 and a two-hundred day moving average of $163.03. The company has a market capitalization of $453.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 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.