Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC Sells 158 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC decreased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.1% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 7,358 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 158 shares during the period. Paces Ferry Wealth Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,039,000 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. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.1% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,938,242,000 after buying an additional 3,323,334 shares in the last quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 131.2% during the second quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after buying an additional 2,219,450 shares during the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC raised its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after acquiring an additional 2,191,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD lifted its stake in Oracle by 97.4% in the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $532,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,093,893 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Barclays increased their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 1,610,402 shares of company stock worth $230,556,257. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $164.49 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $453.31 billion, a PE ratio of 44.34, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $173.99. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $141.34 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $131.19.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.97%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Oracle 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.