Nelson Capital Management LLC Sells 413 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Nelson Capital Management LLC reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 9,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 413 shares during the quarter. Nelson Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,570,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp grew 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 buying an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in 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 worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $168.51 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $471.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $168.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $168.12. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.79 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.