Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Decreases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 15,097 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 150 shares during the period. Oracle makes up about 1.6% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,516,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at $51,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management increased its stake in Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after buying an additional 56 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Down 13.9 %

ORCL opened at $158.10 on Tuesday. 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 Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $174.41 and its 200 day moving average price is $162.79. The stock has a market cap of $442.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Company 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.