Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by Zhang Financial LLC

Zhang Financial LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,892 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,672 shares during the period. Zhang Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,043,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sandy Spring Bank increased its stake in Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $8,229,000 after buying an additional 1,107 shares during the period. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Quantum Private Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $229,000. Cooper Financial Group boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the 4th quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,525 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mendota Financial Group LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $171,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the transaction, 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 is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 21st. Oppenheimer initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Erste Group Bank restated a “hold” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, December 22nd. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. Finally, Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $114.89 on Friday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $119.23 and a 200-day simple moving average of $112.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a current ratio of 0.85 and a quick ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market capitalization of $315.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $93.29 and a 52-week high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $13.28 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.96 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

Oracle Company 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.