Exeter Financial LLC Sells 2,438 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Exeter Financial LLC lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 29,320 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,438 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 2.2% of Exeter Financial LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 11th biggest position. Exeter Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,886,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% during the second quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $219,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,500 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Down 0.5 %

Oracle stock opened at $153.73 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $105.42 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $429.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $177.30 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $161.13. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

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.