Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. lowered its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 531,560 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 7,928 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 2.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th largest position. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $56,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its holdings in Oracle by 3.5% in the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth about $229,000. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Oracle by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $171,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. KeyCorp initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of ORCL traded down $1.11 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $114.89. 8,250,334 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,594,157. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The company has a market cap of $315.78 billion, a PE ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $119.23 and a 200 day simple moving average of $112.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.