Dana Investment Advisors Inc. Raises Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Dana Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 87,391 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Dana Investment Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,563,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 11.6% during 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 purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 3,805.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 966,571 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $161,069,000 after purchasing an additional 941,819 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 279.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after purchasing an additional 891,842 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 2.6% during 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 acquiring an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. DA Davidson raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $161.75 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $452.39 billion, a PE ratio of 39.55, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $168.31 and a 200 day moving average of $169.10. 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 one year low of $110.67 and a one year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (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 business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.