Metis Global Partners LLC Buys 2,258 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Metis Global Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 97,987 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp boosted its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 3,805.0% during the 4th quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 966,571 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $161,069,000 after acquiring an additional 941,819 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 279.7% during the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after acquiring an additional 891,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald downgraded Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $166.09 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $110.36 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $464.55 billion, a P/E ratio of 40.61, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $168.93 and its 200 day moving average is $168.36.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.96%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is 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.