Financial Counselors Inc. Sells 4,097 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Financial Counselors Inc. reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 13.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 26,437 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 4,097 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,405,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. Morey & Quinn Wealth Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $690,000. Summitry LLC increased its position in Oracle by 9.9% in the fourth quarter. Summitry LLC now owns 2,953 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $492,000 after purchasing an additional 266 shares during the period. Murphy & Mullick Capital Management Corp bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $163,000. Florida Financial Advisors LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 156.2% during the 4th quarter. Florida Financial Advisors LLC now owns 3,266 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $544,000 after purchasing an additional 1,991 shares during the period. Finally, Aire Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Aire Advisors LLC now owns 4,924 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $820,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an "outperform" rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on Oracle and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities restated a "market outperform" rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, StockNews.com cut Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $179.20.

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Oracle Stock Down 3.5 %

NYSE ORCL traded down $5.03 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $140.75. 13,138,087 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,963,386. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business's 50-day moving average is $163.94 and its 200-day moving average is $170.22. The stock has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

About Oracle

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.