L & S Advisors Inc Sells 37,633 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

L & S Advisors Inc decreased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 69.9% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 16,176 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 37,633 shares during the quarter. L & S Advisors Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,696,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Second Line Capital LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 1.5% during the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 4.4% during the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $140.75 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $163.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $170.22. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.