Blair William & Co. IL Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Blair William & Co. IL boosted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 621,859 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 68,804 shares during the quarter. Blair William & Co. IL’s holdings in Oracle were worth $103,627,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $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 purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th 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 last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 4.0 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $147.71 on Thursday. 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 50-day moving average price of $164.62 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.28. The company has a market capitalization of $413.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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 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%. The firm’s quarterly revenue 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. Sell-side 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 will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research 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’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus 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.