Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC Raises Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC lifted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 268.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 162,226 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 118,169 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 1.4% of Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th biggest holding. Franklin Street Advisors Inc. NC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,103,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Orion Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 298.4% in the third quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management purchased a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1,268.0% during the 3rd quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Studio Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $125.56 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $345.10 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.43 and a beta of 1.00. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $89.71 and a 1 year high of $132.77. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $116.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.47.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.96 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.27%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 42.22%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. KeyCorp began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. UBS Group decreased their price objective on Oracle from $135.00 to $125.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, December 12th. William Blair upgraded Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $130.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, December 12th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.80% of the stock is owned by 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.