Perritt Capital Management Inc Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Perritt Capital Management Inc decreased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 56.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 3,002 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 3,968 shares during the quarter. Perritt Capital Management Inc's holdings in Oracle were worth $500,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 9.3% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Finally, Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after buying an additional 97,635 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Remove Ads

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a "strong-buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Tuesday. They issued a "buy" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Citigroup dropped their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an "overweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $178.65.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of ORCL traded up $4.02 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $145.96. 11,539,620 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,037,719. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $408.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50 day moving average of $162.14 and a 200 day moving average of $169.85.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

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.