HighPoint Advisor Group LLC Acquires 2,659 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

HighPoint Advisor Group LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 39,619 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,659 shares during the quarter. HighPoint Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,966,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Second Line Capital LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after acquiring an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $603,000 after acquiring an additional 63 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $140.75 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.94 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $170.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.42%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently issued reports on the company. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

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.