Northern Financial Advisors Inc Sells 448 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Northern Financial Advisors Inc lessened its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 12,367 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 448 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up about 1.6% of Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 16th biggest position. Northern Financial Advisors Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,061,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Values Added Financial LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 14.8% in the 4th quarter. Values Added Financial LLC now owns 2,505 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $417,000 after purchasing an additional 322 shares in the last quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Bogart Wealth LLC now owns 11,221 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,870,000 after buying an additional 228 shares during the period. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 5.0% in the fourth quarter. Catalyst Financial Partners LLC now owns 6,624 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,104,000 after buying an additional 316 shares in the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% in the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 651,308 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $110,045,000 after buying an additional 17,975 shares during the period. Finally, Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $13,884,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.1 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $165.29. The company has a market cap of $486.89 billion, a PE ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on the company. Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.