Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Boosted by GeoWealth Management LLC

GeoWealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 17,330 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 274 shares during the period. GeoWealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake 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 valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $128.56 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $359.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $150.85 and its 200-day simple moving average is $166.34.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 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 period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect 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. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % 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 Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock valued at $454,439,851. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on ORCL. Citigroup reduced their price objective on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Evercore ISI reduced their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Monday, March 31st. Bank of America reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, KeyCorp restated an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $176.73.

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.