Unigestion Holding SA Lowers Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Unigestion Holding SA lessened its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 72.4% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 9,153 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 24,008 shares during the quarter. Unigestion Holding SA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,525,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.34. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.56%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, April 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Piper Sandler lowered their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock worth $453,791,001. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.