Connors Investor Services Inc. Cuts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Connors Investor Services Inc. trimmed its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.4% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 115,076 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,614 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for approximately 1.7% of Connors Investor Services Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th biggest position. Connors Investor Services Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,249,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Westend Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 1st quarter valued at $25,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $35,000. Tidemark LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, Frank Rimerman Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $30,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. KeyCorp raised their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.88.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 5.1 %

ORCL opened at $170.37 on Tuesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a market cap of $472.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 45.92, a P/E/G ratio of 2.95 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $173.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $140.35 and a 200 day moving average of $130.57.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.06 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

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.