Abacus Planning Group Inc. Trims Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Abacus Planning Group Inc. lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 10.9% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 9,485 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,164 shares during the period. Abacus Planning Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the 4th quarter. CIBC Private Wealth Group LLC now owns 402,314 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $42,416,000 after acquiring an additional 23,662 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. now owns 37,637 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,968,000 after purchasing an additional 3,242 shares during the period. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 12.1% in the 4th quarter. Cetera Advisor Networks LLC now owns 200,245 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $21,112,000 after buying an additional 21,675 shares during the last quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 7.4% in the 4th quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 7,827 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $825,000 after buying an additional 541 shares during the period. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 11,445 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,207,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $167.73 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $173.99. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $146.63 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $134.63. The stock has a market cap of $464.79 billion, a PE ratio of 45.21, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 426,861 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.91, for a total transaction of $60,575,844.51. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $372,764,079.24. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 1,573,181 shares of company stock valued at $225,338,245 over the last three months. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Sanford C. Bernstein boosted their price objective on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Barclays increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $167.42.

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.