Lord Abbett & CO. LLC Purchases 128,901 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 14.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 992,784 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 128,901 shares during the period. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $165,438,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC increased its position in Oracle by 268.4% during the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,077,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $512,909,000 after purchasing an additional 2,242,520 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Polen Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,787,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Up 4.7 %

ORCL stock opened at $137.57 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $147.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $165.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $384.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.64, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.45%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.