Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Trimmed by Aviance Capital Partners LLC

Aviance Capital Partners LLC reduced its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 16.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 5,322 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,080 shares during the quarter. Aviance Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $561,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE grew its position in Oracle by 298.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the last quarter. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1,268.0% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 139.4% during the fourth quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,068,976. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.00, for a total value of $2,320,000.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,068,976. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 835,000 shares of company stock worth $105,189,850 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Oppenheimer assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded down $0.45 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $117.89. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 6,434,951 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,246,625. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $96.10 and a one year high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $324.02 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.19 and its 200-day moving average price is $113.57.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.36%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.