Brookstone Capital Management Sells 1,200 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Brookstone Capital Management reduced its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.2% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 27,258 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 1,200 shares during the period. Brookstone Capital Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,542,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. grew its stake in Oracle by 15.3% in the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth $4,160,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $156.34 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market cap of $437.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $105.42 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $176.99 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently commented on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $181.48.

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.