Avantax Planning Partners Inc. Has $3.42 Million Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Avantax Planning Partners Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 20,519 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 429 shares during the period. Avantax Planning Partners Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,419,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $930,095,000. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Amundi boosted its position in Oracle by 15.2% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,012,943,000 after purchasing an additional 1,623,609 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 3,805.0% in the fourth quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC now owns 966,571 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $161,069,000 after purchasing an additional 941,819 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 4.1 %

ORCL stock opened at $148.87 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $111.18 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $416.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $167.27 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.58.

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 firm 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 for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction 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 $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reaffirmed a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “positive” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.