Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 309,383 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,796 shares during the period. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $32,618,000 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. Bison Wealth LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after purchasing an additional 91 shares during the period. MONECO Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after purchasing an additional 94 shares during the period. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 15.7% in the 3rd quarter. Mascoma Wealth Management LLC now owns 701 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $74,000 after purchasing an additional 95 shares during the period. Everhart Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,163 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after purchasing an additional 96 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 9,443 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL traded down $1.95 during trading on Wednesday, hitting $118.67. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 5,348,634 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,612,825. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $119.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.73. The firm has a market cap of $326.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.83, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.