Blue Chip Partners LLC Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Blue Chip Partners LLC reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.4% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,386 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 79 shares during the quarter. Blue Chip Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $231,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in 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 in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in 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 during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its holdings in 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 valued at $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $173.50 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $169.33 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was 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 this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Company 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.