Thrivent Financial for Lutherans Lowers Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Thrivent Financial for Lutherans reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 92,515 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,288 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans’ holdings in Oracle were worth $15,764,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the second quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the first quarter valued at about $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth about $40,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.0 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $190.76 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $191.77. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $174.39 and its 200 day simple moving average is $148.37. The firm has a market capitalization of $528.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.16, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.