Hixon Zuercher LLC Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Hixon Zuercher LLC lowered its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 13,281 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,102 shares during the period. Hixon Zuercher LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,213,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth about $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $170.41 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $476.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.66, a PEG ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $172.79 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.03. 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 posted its quarterly earnings results 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim lifted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, KeyCorp raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.