Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Cuts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 164,761 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 910 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises about 1.9% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 16th largest holding. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Oracle were worth $23,035,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Capital & Planning LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital & Planning LLC now owns 15,727 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,621,000 after buying an additional 81 shares in the last quarter. Brighton Jones LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 189.3% during the fourth quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 153,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,593,000 after acquiring an additional 100,494 shares during the last quarter. Union Bancaire Privee UBP SA acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $51,084,000. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the fourth quarter. Revolve Wealth Partners LLC now owns 5,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $903,000 after acquiring an additional 404 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Congress Asset Management Co. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 110,095 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,346,000 after acquiring an additional 2,654 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. Westpark Capital increased their price objective on Oracle from $195.00 to $246.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $195.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Loop Capital set a $135.00 price target on Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 10th. Evercore ISI reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $215.00 price target (up from $180.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, June 12th. Finally, Stephens started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, twenty-one have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $194.32.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $210.94 on Tuesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $154.61 and a two-hundred day moving average of $160.49. The stock has a market capitalization of $589.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 51.57, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.32. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $118.86 and a 52 week high of $216.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.64 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $15.90 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $15.58 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.63 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.08%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, Vice Chairman Jeffrey Henley sold 400,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $190.42, for a total transaction of $76,168,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now directly owns 1,097,576 shares in the company, valued at $209,000,421.92. This represents a 26.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director now owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 427,366 shares of company stock worth $80,183,723. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.