Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Sells 3,600 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 86,400 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,600 shares during the quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Activest Wealth Management lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its position in Oracle by 0.8% during the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Requisite Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $177.18 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $495.57 billion, a PE ratio of 43.32, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $170.37 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $164.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.90%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler upped their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp boosted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

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.