River Road Asset Management LLC Sells 41,248 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

River Road Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 160,505 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 41,248 shares during the quarter. River Road Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $26,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Miller Financial Services LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $585,000. Davis R M Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the fourth quarter. Davis R M Inc. now owns 18,983 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,163,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares in the last quarter. Clare Market Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,644,000. Vista Investment Partners II LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $3,057,000. Finally, Independent Advisor Alliance boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 40.3% during the fourth quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance now owns 51,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,665,000 after purchasing an additional 14,924 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $148.87 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $416.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.40, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $167.27 and a 200 day simple moving average of $169.58. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $111.18 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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 business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.