US Bancorp DE Buys 130,150 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

US Bancorp DE raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,509,227 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 130,150 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE’s holdings in Oracle were worth $159,118,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sandy Spring Bank grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.4% during the fourth 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 last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $631,000 after buying an additional 200 shares during the last quarter. Seven Mile Advisory grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 10.6% during the fourth quarter. Seven Mile Advisory now owns 5,236 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $552,000 after buying an additional 502 shares during the last quarter. Cooper Financial Group grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 43.4% during the fourth quarter. Cooper Financial Group now owns 5,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $531,000 after buying an additional 1,525 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 208.2% during the fourth quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 885,056 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $93,311,000 after buying an additional 597,846 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded down $0.92 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $123.68. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 2,988,532 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,977,314. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $121.40 and a 200 day moving average price of $114.83. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $97.29 and a one year high of $132.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.85, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $339.93 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.88, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 1.03.

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, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.96 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total transaction of $5,298,300.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total transaction of $2,903,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock valued at $110,488,150. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 13th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $126.00 to $142.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. KeyCorp started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, March 21st. They set an “overweight” rating and a $150.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 9th. Ten research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

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.