Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. Buys Shares of 1,410 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sulzberger Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm bought 1,410 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $235,000.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. FMR LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. FMR LLC now owns 38,002,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $6,332,803,000 after purchasing an additional 156,269 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after acquiring an additional 619,619 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 9.3% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,366,531,000 after acquiring an additional 1,722,037 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Northern Trust Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after acquiring an additional 2,176,892 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens began coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho decreased their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Bank of America decreased their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $140.77 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $393.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.42, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. 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 $113.65 and a one year high of $198.31. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $144.46 and its 200 day simple moving average is $164.27.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. The trade was a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Company 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.