Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 22.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 1,895,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 341,475 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $315,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $152.83 on Friday. 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 $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $164.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Finally, BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen investment 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 company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.