Financial Advocates Investment Management Sells 737 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Financial Advocates Investment Management lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 16.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,659 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 737 shares during the quarter. Financial Advocates Investment Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $386,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Compass Ion Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $205,000. Advisor OS LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 16.1% during the third quarter. Advisor OS LLC now owns 2,218 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $235,000 after acquiring an additional 307 shares during the period. Machina Capital S.A.S. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $788,000. SageView Advisory Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.1% during the third quarter. SageView Advisory Group LLC now owns 10,837 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,148,000 after acquiring an additional 5,106 shares during the period. Finally, OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $1,262,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $124.51 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $97.29 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The business has a 50-day moving average of $121.48 and a two-hundred day moving average of $114.64. The company has a market capitalization of $342.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.48 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.29%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at $2,071,294.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.