Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by GHP Investment Advisors Inc.

GHP Investment Advisors Inc. decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 97,666 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,636 shares during the period. GHP Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,275,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth 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 during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $171.52 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $479.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.94, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $170.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $164.05. 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 (EPS) 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 analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

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 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 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.