Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) is ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s 6th Largest Position

ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc. cut its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.5% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 531,560 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 7,928 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 2.9% of ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. ZWJ Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $56,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake 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 valued at $15,599,200,000 after acquiring an additional 7,883,515 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the first quarter. State Street Corp now owns 62,586,810 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,815,566,000 after purchasing an additional 1,570,528 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley grew its stake in Oracle by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 20,502,544 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,675,878,000 after purchasing an additional 1,794,080 shares in the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 3.5% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,409,896,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle 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 owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL traded down $1.11 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $114.89. The stock had a trading volume of 8,250,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,594,157. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $119.23 and its 200-day moving average price is $112.85. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $93.29 and a 52 week high of $132.77. The company has a market capitalization of $315.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.31, a P/E/G ratio of 2.30 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.39%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Erste Group Bank reiterated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. KeyCorp assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Piper Sandler dropped their target price on Oracle from $125.00 to $122.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, January 2nd. Finally, BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

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.