Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Boosted by Vivaldi Capital Management LP

Vivaldi Capital Management LP grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 14.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 8,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 997 shares during the period. Vivaldi Capital Management LP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,274,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the stock. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 31,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. This represents a 8.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 17,500 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, May 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $151.24, for a total transaction of $2,646,700.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $8,785,531.60. The trade was a 23.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 over the last quarter. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, April 15th. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Westpark Capital started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Fourteen 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 stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.42.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $160.31 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $448.39 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.20, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $142.91 and its 200 day simple moving average is $162.45. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $114.55 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.25%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.