Argyle Capital Management Inc. Cuts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. cut its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 28.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 29,100 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 11,400 shares during the quarter. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,068,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Strategic Blueprint LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 5.1% in the third quarter. Strategic Blueprint LLC now owns 4,077 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $432,000 after acquiring an additional 197 shares during the last quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC grew its position in Oracle by 106.5% during the third quarter. Arthur M. Cohen & Associates LLC now owns 4,643 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $492,000 after buying an additional 2,395 shares during the period. HCR Wealth Advisors grew its position in Oracle by 253.6% during the third quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 23,364 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,475,000 after buying an additional 16,756 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners grew its position in shares of Oracle by 52.4% in the third quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 11,496 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,218,000 after purchasing an additional 3,953 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Avestar Capital LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 5.2% in the third quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 6,975 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $739,000 after purchasing an additional 343 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 23rd. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Argus raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock traded up $2.32 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $117.21. 8,355,111 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 5,810,524. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $93.29 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $119.42 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.16. The company has a market cap of $322.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.35 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 announced 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 business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were given 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 was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.