Quadrant Capital Group LLC Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Quadrant Capital Group LLC lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 5.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 38,573 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,054 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.4% of Quadrant Capital Group LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest holding. Quadrant Capital Group LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $6,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 23.0% during the fourth quarter. Cascades Capital Asset Management LLC now owns 2,751 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $459,000 after acquiring an additional 515 shares in the last quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co raised its position in Oracle by 39.2% in the 4th quarter. Ilmarinen Mutual Pension Insurance Co now owns 266,087 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $44,341,000 after purchasing an additional 75,000 shares during the period. Rahlfs Capital LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $1,626,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Payden & Rygel increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 31.2% in the fourth quarter. Payden & Rygel now owns 85,690 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $14,279,000 after buying an additional 20,400 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Remove Ads

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. Bank of America lowered their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Monday, March 31st. Guggenheim reissued a "buy" rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a "market perform" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an "equal weight" rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Down 6.6 %

ORCL stock traded down $9.06 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.17. 14,968,758 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 9,111,905. The stock has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The firm's 50 day moving average is $160.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.38.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. This is a boost from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle's payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, 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 is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 over the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.