Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC reduced its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 3.1% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 835,427 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 26,983 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 0.9% of Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest holding. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $136,781,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,049,824,000 after acquiring an additional 310,709 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Finally, UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.4% in the 3rd quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 11,474,912 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,955,325,000 after buying an additional 691,193 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded up $5.44 during trading on Friday, reaching $191.68. The company had a trading volume of 10,481,120 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,256,327. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $196.04. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $178.90 and its 200 day simple moving average is $153.32. The firm has a market capitalization of $531.16 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 49.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle's revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently weighed in on ORCL. Piper Sandler upped their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group restated a "market outperform" rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley upped their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a "sector perform" rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Citigroup upped their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $171.52.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

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.