Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Acquires 18,681 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,117 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,681 shares during the period. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $30,015,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% during the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Citigroup reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Bank of America dropped their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $145.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $164.35 and its 200 day simple moving average is $170.11. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $408.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

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.