Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 22.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 76,763 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,241 shares during the quarter. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,792,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. State Street Corp raised its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $172.37 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $109.79 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $169.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.15. The firm has a market cap of $482.11 billion, a PE ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com cut Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Company 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.