Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. Trims Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD. lessened its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 5,120 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 600 shares during the quarter. Asahi Life Asset Management CO. LTD.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $853,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Finally, Halbert Hargrove Global Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.8 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $166.09 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $464.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.36 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.93 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $168.60. 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 announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. KeyCorp increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson raised their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 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.