Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc. decreased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 159,161 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 668 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 1.3% of Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest position. Mogy Joel R Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,780,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 5.7% during the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its position in Oracle by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 18,718,180 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,982,630,000 after purchasing an additional 635,994 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,704,523 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,211,307,000 after purchasing an additional 61,604 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its position in Oracle by 1.1% during the 3rd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 8,471,884 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $897,342,000 after purchasing an additional 89,876 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP grew its position in Oracle by 9,299.3% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 8,170,999 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $865,472,000 after purchasing an additional 8,084,067 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.21. 8,355,111 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,810,524. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $93.29 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The company has a market capitalization of $322.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.93, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The business has a fifty day moving average of $119.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $113.11. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have commented on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Oppenheimer began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. HSBC lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $130.76.

About Oracle

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.