Cardinal Capital Management Inc. Sells 6,956 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cardinal Capital Management Inc. cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 213,386 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,956 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 1.2% of Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 24th biggest holding. Cardinal Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $35,559,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC grew its position in Oracle by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $184.18 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company’s 50-day moving average is $174.43 and its 200 day moving average is $162.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $515.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

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.