Victory Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Victory Capital Management Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 23.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 576,288 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 177,721 shares during the quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $60,758,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE lifted its stake in Oracle by 298.4% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1,268.0% in the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $36,000 after acquiring an additional 317 shares during the period. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 139.4% in the fourth quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 216 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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. In other Oracle news, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,071,294.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $115.80 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $94.41 and a one year high of $132.77. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $119.91 and a 200 day moving average of $113.32. The company has a market capitalization of $318.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 EPS for the quarter, topping 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 company had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. Oppenheimer started coverage on Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. HSBC increased their price objective on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average 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.