Wright Investors Service Inc. Sells 2,172 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Wright Investors Service Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 43,768 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,172 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 1.3% of Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 19th largest holding. Wright Investors Service Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,614,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. HF Advisory Group LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 43.6% in the fourth quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 8,554 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $902,000 after buying an additional 2,596 shares during the last quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt raised its stake in Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Livforsakringsbolaget Skandia Omsesidigt now owns 114,379 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,056,000 after buying an additional 1,622 shares during the last quarter. Key Financial Inc raised its stake in Oracle by 6.1% in the fourth quarter. Key Financial Inc now owns 6,916 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $729,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 6.5% in the fourth quarter. Telos Capital Management Inc. now owns 48,074 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,068,000 after buying an additional 2,943 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KLCM Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 16.0% in the fourth quarter. KLCM Advisors Inc. now owns 3,629 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $383,000 after buying an additional 501 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $118.19. The stock had a trading volume of 1,650,747 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,530,927. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.28 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.78. The stock has a market cap of $324.85 billion, a PE ratio of 31.31, a PEG ratio of 2.33 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $93.29 and a 1-year high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.96 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Finally, HSBC lifted their price target on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

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.