Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. Decreases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Johnson Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.5% in the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 148,735 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,763 shares during the quarter. Johnson Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $21,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after purchasing an additional 7,230 shares during the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC increased its position in Oracle by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth about $359,000. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Barclays boosted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 in a report on Monday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $158.68.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624 over the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.8 %

ORCL stock opened at $157.13 on Thursday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $139.16 and a 200 day moving average of $129.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $160.52. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

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.