Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC Trims Stock Holdings in Oracle Corporation $ORCL

Key Points

• Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC reduced its stock holdings in Oracle Corporation by 17.3% in the first quarter, leaving them with 6,411 shares valued at approximately $896,000.
• Several institutional investors, including Sax Wealth Advisors and Blue Whale Capital, increased their stakes in Oracle during the same quarter, further indicating a mixed sentiment among hedge funds towards the company.
• Oracle recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.50, translating to an annual yield of 0.8%, with the company's payout ratio at 46.08%.

Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 17.3% during the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 6,411 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after selling 1,339 shares during the quarter. Douglass Winthrop Advisors LLC's holdings in Oracle were worth $896,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.8% in the first quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 4,097 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $573,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the period. Blue Whale Capital LLP raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 17.7% in the first quarter. Blue Whale Capital LLP now owns 398,728 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $55,746,000 after buying an additional 59,929 shares during the period. Allstate Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 18.6% in the first quarter. Allstate Corp now owns 58,588 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $8,191,000 after buying an additional 9,193 shares during the period. Gitterman Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth approximately $248,000. Finally, Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.7% in the first quarter. Mccarter Private Wealth Services LLC now owns 4,235 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $592,000 after buying an additional 575 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 3,303 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $233.32, for a total value of $770,655.96. Following the transaction, the director owned 31,447 shares in the company, valued at $7,337,214.04. The trade was a 9.51% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 10,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 3rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $232.99, for a total value of $2,329,900.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president owned 40,807 shares in the company, valued at $9,507,622.93. This trade represents a 19.68% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 444,183 shares of company stock valued at $86,521,198 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company's stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.3%

NYSE ORCL opened at $236.1670 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 4.07, a quick ratio of 0.75 and a current ratio of 0.75. The company has a market capitalization of $663.35 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 54.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 1.43. The company's 50-day simple moving average is $235.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $182.87. Oracle Corporation has a one year low of $118.86 and a one year high of $260.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.70 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.64 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $15.90 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $15.58 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.68% and a return on equity of 87.34%. The company's revenue for the quarter was up 11.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.63 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Corporation will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.8%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is 46.08%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus raised shares of Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and raised their target price for the stock from $180.00 to $250.00 in a research report on Monday, June 30th. Cowen reaffirmed a "buy" rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, June 12th. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $250.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 18th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $245.00 to $300.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, June 9th. Three analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, twenty-three have given a Buy rating and eight have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $227.04.

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.

Want to see what other hedge funds are holding ORCL? Visit HoldingsChannel.com to get the latest 13F filings and insider trades for Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report).

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.