Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by NorthRock Partners LLC

NorthRock Partners LLC decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 26.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 4,263 shares during the period. NorthRock Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,973,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the period. W Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 3.1% during the 3rd quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after acquiring an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $674,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the period. Oak Ridge Investments LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.9% in the 3rd quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 1,730 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $295,000 after purchasing an additional 65 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Trust Point Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the third quarter. Trust Point Inc. now owns 13,606 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,318,000 after purchasing an additional 66 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. KeyCorp increased their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.52.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.9 %

Shares of ORCL traded up $1.50 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $171.09. 846,580 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,251,374. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $178.61. The company has a market cap of $474.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.71, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.02. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $164.04 and a 200 day simple moving average of $142.62. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

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.