Visionary Wealth Advisors Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Visionary Wealth Advisors raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,717 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the quarter. Visionary Wealth Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $1,953,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 valued at $26,231,127,000 after buying an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 268.4% in the 4th quarter. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC now owns 3,077,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $512,909,000 after buying an additional 2,242,520 shares during the period. Finally, Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 12.5% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 19,620,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,269,566,000 after buying an additional 2,176,892 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 0.6%

NYSE:ORCL opened at $159.46 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $143.08 and a 200-day simple moving average of $162.38. The stock has a market cap of $446.00 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.99, 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 debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm 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%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts anticipate 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. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th were given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.25%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Barclays cut their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group cut 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. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho cut their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $180.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 15th. Finally, Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $174.42.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, 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 completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,785,531.60. This represents a 23.15% 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 Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’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 sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 27,366 shares of company stock valued at $4,015,723 in the last three months. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.