Moody National Bank Trust Division Sells 2,652 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Moody National Bank Trust Division cut its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) by 6.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 37,656 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 2,652 shares during the period. Moody National Bank Trust Division’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,078,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. FSC Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $29,000. Pacifica Partners Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 108.9% in the 3rd quarter. Pacifica Partners Inc. now owns 401 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the last quarter. Cowa LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $31,000. 40.96% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Rona Alison Fairhead sold 8,080 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.82, for a total value of $725,745.60. Following the sale, the director now owns 11,197 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,005,714.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 43.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Stock Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, hitting $85.26. The company had a trading volume of 13,066,028 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,163,995. The stock has a market capitalization of $230.18 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $60.78 and a 1-year high of $91.22. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $87.66 and its 200-day moving average is $79.42.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL – Get Rating) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.22 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.20 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $12.40 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.42 billion. Oracle had a negative return on equity of 262.40% and a net margin of 17.46%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.94 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 3.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 11th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.88%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.32. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Piper Sandler reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $104.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group set a $105.00 price objective on Oracle in a research report on Friday, March 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on Oracle from $95.00 to $96.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. Mizuho reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $116.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Finally, Societe Generale lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Friday, March 10th. They noted that the move was a valuation call. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $95.06.

About Oracle

(Get Rating)

Oracle Corp. engages in the provision of products and services that address all aspects of corporate information technology environments. It operates through the following business segments: Cloud and License, Hardware, and Services. The Cloud and License segment markets, sells, and delivers applications, platform, and infrastructure technologies.