Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Sells 2,827 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 165,671 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,827 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up 2.2% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Oracle were worth $27,607,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $395,295,000 after buying an additional 53,128 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Kornitzer Capital Management Inc. KS bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $218,000. Finally, Summit Global Investments bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $436,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Piper Sandler increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

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 shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $155.89 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $436.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $167.63 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.30. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $111.18 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

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.