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

Wedbush Securities Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 53,953 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,102 shares during the period. Wedbush Securities Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,991,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank increased its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $2,590,000. Finally, Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2,273.8% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,899 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 6.6 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $160.05 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.33. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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 the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective 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. Evercore ISI decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

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.