Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV Raises Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 45,842 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 366 shares during the period. Nations Financial Group Inc. IA ADV’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,833,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sandy Spring Bank boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th 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. Seven Mile Advisory boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 10.6% during the 4th quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,000 after purchasing an additional 502 shares during the period. Cooper Financial Group boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares during the period. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 208.2% during the 4th quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 885,056 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $93,311,000 after purchasing an additional 597,846 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. KeyCorp assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 9th. HSBC upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $122.91. 7,173,435 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 6,129,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $98.77 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77. The company has a market capitalization of $337.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $121.31 and its two-hundred day moving average is $115.03.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 42.22%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150 over the last 90 days. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.