Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. Sells 214 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cascade Investment Advisors Inc. lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 214 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 1.4% of Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Cascade Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,081,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 40.8% during the 4th quarter. Boston Trust Walden Corp now owns 564,030 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $93,990,000 after buying an additional 163,543 shares in the last quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co grew its position in shares of Oracle by 10.8% during the 4th quarter. CENTRAL TRUST Co now owns 43,851 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,307,000 after buying an additional 4,259 shares during the period. EQ Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $12,738,000. Finally, Paul R. Ried Financial Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $500,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, March 31st. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.42.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723 over the last ninety days. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 1.3%

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $165.03 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.55 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.07. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $117.34 and a 52-week high of $198.31. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $461.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.35, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.21%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.