Connors Investor Services Inc. Cuts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Connors Investor Services Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 82,954 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 2,074 shares during the quarter. Connors Investor Services Inc.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $13,823,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $603,000 after buying an additional 63 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on the stock. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a "buy" rating and a $195.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a "neutral" rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim restated a "buy" rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Piper Sandler restated a "neutral" rating and set a $130.00 target price (down previously from $190.00) on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, April 23rd. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 3.4 %

Oracle stock traded up $4.78 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $145.50. The stock had a trading volume of 11,516,458 shares, compared to its average volume of 9,399,270. 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 52-week low of $114.26 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $406.95 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.57, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a fifty day moving average of $143.97 and a 200 day moving average of $164.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle's previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. This trade represents a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now directly 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. Corporate 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.