Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI Trims Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI trimmed its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 165,671 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,827 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for 2.2% of Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Schaper Benz & Wise Investment Counsel Inc. WI’s holdings in Oracle were worth $27,607,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Coordinated Financial Services Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $317,000. Personal CFO Solutions LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 26.8% during the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 17,350 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,891,000 after acquiring an additional 3,670 shares during the period. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,012,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623,609 shares during the period. Naviter Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 49.5% during the fourth quarter. Naviter Wealth LLC now owns 10,763 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,794,000 after acquiring an additional 3,562 shares during the period. Finally, Rialto Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $68,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $155.89 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.63 and a 200-day moving average of $169.30. The stock has a market cap of $436.01 billion, a PE ratio of 38.11, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $111.18 and a 52-week high of $198.31. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS 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 issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.