Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan lowered its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 44,000 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 0.9% of NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest holding. NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,332,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 2.5 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $161.91 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $452.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.79 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.01. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This 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 the SEC website. 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.