Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Raised by Plato Investment Management Ltd

Plato Investment Management Ltd increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.0% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 36,600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,726 shares during the quarter. Plato Investment Management Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,230,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Bank of America upped their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, JMP Securities boosted their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $168.52.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $189.62 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $169.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.54. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $191.77. The stock has a market cap of $525.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.87, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.