Platform Technology Partners Decreases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Platform Technology Partners reduced its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,831 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 251 shares during the period. Platform Technology Partners’ holdings in Oracle were worth $885,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 108.9% during the third quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 401 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. 40.96% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead sold 8,080 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.82, for a total value of $725,745.60. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 11,197 shares in the company, valued at $1,005,714.54. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 43.70% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Oracle from $75.00 to $84.00 in a research report on Friday, March 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $72.00 price target on Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Cowen dropped their price target on Oracle from $98.00 to $96.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, December 13th. Credit Suisse Group set a $115.00 price target on Oracle and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on Oracle from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.06.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $85.26. 13,066,028 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 7,163,995. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.18 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $60.78 and a 12-month high of $91.22. The business’s 50-day moving average is $87.66 and its 200-day moving average is $79.42.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.42 billion. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 262.40% and a net margin of 17.46%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.94 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 3.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, April 11th will be given a $0.40 dividend. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.88%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.24%.

Oracle Company Profile

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Oracle Corp. engages in the provision of products and services that address all aspects of corporate information technology environments. It operates through the following business segments: Cloud and License, Hardware, and Services. The Cloud and License segment markets, sells, and delivers applications, platform, and infrastructure technologies.