Cerity Partners LLC Sells 37,119 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Cerity Partners LLC decreased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 848,151 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 37,119 shares during the quarter. Cerity Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $141,939,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. United Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,590,000. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 27.3% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 57,424 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $9,785,000 after acquiring an additional 12,302 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Barclays decreased their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 6.6 %

ORCL stock opened at $128.17 on Monday. 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 Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a fifty day moving average of $160.05 and a 200-day moving average of $169.38.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’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 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.