Mufg Securities Americas Inc. Buys Shares of 23,725 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mufg Securities Americas Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 23,725 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,954,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.8% during the fourth quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the period. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares during the period. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.9% during the fourth quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho dropped their target price on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, Barclays cut their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $174.42.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, May 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total value of $2,646,700.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $162.29 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $453.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $114.55 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $142.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $162.76.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its 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 business had revenue of $14.13 billion during 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%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.23%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.