NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Has $7.33 Million Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 44,000 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 6,000 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 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 SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Scratch Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $367,000. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.9% in the fourth quarter. Schechter Investment Advisors LLC now owns 32,604 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,433,000 after purchasing an additional 293 shares in the last quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 14.3% in the fourth quarter. Meridian Wealth Management LLC now owns 41,478 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,912,000 after purchasing an additional 5,196 shares in the last quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.9% in the fourth quarter. Auxano Advisors LLC now owns 12,929 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,154,000 after purchasing an additional 835 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fidelis Capital Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.6% in the fourth quarter. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC now owns 15,860 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,674,000 after purchasing an additional 3,132 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup upped their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim increased their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $161.91 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.79 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.01. The stock has a market cap of $452.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $110.36 and a 12-month high of $198.31. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (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%. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

About Oracle

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.