Flputnam Investment Management Co. Purchases 26,258 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Flputnam Investment Management Co. boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 41.9% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 88,854 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 26,258 shares during the period. Flputnam Investment Management Co.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,368,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE increased its holdings in Oracle by 298.4% during the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after purchasing an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1,268.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $36,000 after purchasing an additional 317 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 139.4% during the 4th quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,000 after purchasing an additional 216 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Up 0.5 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $0.57 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $120.45. 473,224 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,576,401. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $93.29 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $119.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $112.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $331.06 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.63, a P/E/G ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.85, a current ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) 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 analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.96 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.33%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Erste Group Bank reaffirmed a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

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.