Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Sold by First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.

First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 106,353 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 3,964 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 2.5% of First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 18th largest holding. First Fiduciary Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $11,213,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Bison Wealth LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Bison Wealth LLC now owns 12,089 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,280,000 after buying an additional 91 shares in the last quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.1% in the 3rd quarter. MONECO Advisors LLC now owns 8,652 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $916,000 after buying an additional 94 shares in the last quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Everhart Financial Group Inc. now owns 7,163 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $755,000 after buying an additional 96 shares in the last quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. now owns 9,443 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,000,000 after buying an additional 98 shares in the last quarter. Finally, J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in the 3rd quarter. J.W. Cole Advisors Inc. now owns 21,290 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after buying an additional 100 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $117.21 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The stock has a market capitalization of $322.15 billion, a PE ratio of 30.93, a PEG ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.42 and its 200-day moving average is $113.11.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for 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. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Company 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.