Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. Cuts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Pring Turner Capital Group Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,963 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 709 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 5.0% of Pring Turner Capital Group Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 2nd largest position. Pring Turner Capital Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,493,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of 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 valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in 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 buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $170.00 on Tuesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $109.79 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.97 and its 200-day simple moving average is $167.87. The company has a market capitalization of $475.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.