Vontobel Holding Ltd. Sells 85,142 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Vontobel Holding Ltd. lessened its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 338,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 85,142 shares during the period. Vontobel Holding Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $56,471,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Wealth Group Ltd. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $222,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 157.0% during the third quarter. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC now owns 4,587 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $782,000 after purchasing an additional 2,802 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning grew its stake in Oracle by 4.1% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $132,045,000 after buying an additional 30,341 shares in the last quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 19.6% in the 3rd quarter. Jamison Private Wealth Management Inc. now owns 1,812 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $309,000 after buying an additional 297 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wolff Wiese Magana LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the 3rd quarter. Wolff Wiese Magana LLC now owns 1,422 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $242,000 after buying an additional 106 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $169.94 and a 200 day moving average of $165.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $486.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week 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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. KeyCorp increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.