Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by Ervin Investment Management LLC

Ervin Investment Management LLC lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 11,035 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 625 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 1.2% of Ervin Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Ervin Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,839,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson increased their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $161.05 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $175.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $161.46. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data 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 company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.