QV Investors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

QV Investors Inc. cut its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 27.3% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 24,765 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 9,320 shares during the quarter. QV Investors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,127,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at about $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock traded down $0.96 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $153.54. The company had a trading volume of 4,096,026 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,274,737. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $105.42 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $177.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $161.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

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.