Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Position Lifted by Commonwealth Equity Services LLC

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.1% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 599,991 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 28,992 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $63,257,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. LGT Group Foundation increased its holdings in Oracle by 63.2% in the fourth quarter. LGT Group Foundation now owns 140,187 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $14,895,000 after buying an additional 54,288 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 8.1% during the 4th quarter. First Trust Direct Indexing L.P. now owns 41,992 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $4,427,000 after purchasing an additional 3,150 shares during the last quarter. Summit Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 9.7% during the 4th quarter. Summit Financial LLC now owns 18,514 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,952,000 after purchasing an additional 1,640 shares in the last quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 21.2% in the 4th quarter. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. now owns 53,028 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,591,000 after purchasing an additional 9,291 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckhead Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 0.6% in the fourth quarter. Buckhead Capital Management LLC now owns 34,336 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,620,000 after purchasing an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have weighed in on ORCL shares. Oppenheimer began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 18th. They issued a “market perform” rating for the company. KeyCorp began coverage on Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Up 0.7 %

ORCL opened at $115.80 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $318.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.55, a PEG ratio of 2.31 and a beta of 1.03. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $119.83 and its 200-day simple moving average is $113.27. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $94.41 and a twelve month high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.38%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.