Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Ethic Inc.

Ethic Inc. raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.6% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 180,160 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 20,106 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.6% of Ethic Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 17th biggest holding. Ethic Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $30,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have issued reports on ORCL. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho lowered their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut 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 price objective on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Finally, Stephens initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 0.7 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $150.38 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $420.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.77, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $142.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $163.20. 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 52 week low of $114.55 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total value of $428,552.98. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.