Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Buys 118,169 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 268.2% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 162,226 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,169 shares during the period. Oracle comprises approximately 1.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in Oracle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Quantum Private Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Cooper Financial Group raised its holdings in Oracle by 43.4% in the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Greenfield Savings Bank lifted its position in Oracle by 7.8% during the third quarter. Greenfield Savings Bank now owns 9,034 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $957,000 after acquiring an additional 656 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BKM Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $85,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. HSBC increased their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Erste Group Bank reissued a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. Wolfe Research cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, December 12th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $130.76.

Oracle Trading Up 0.2 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $125.56 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $345.10 billion, a PE ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $116.38 and its 200 day moving average is $111.47. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $89.71 and a 1 year high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.