Physicians Financial Services Inc. Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Physicians Financial Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 24,167 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 499 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 1.2% of Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings, making the stock its 21st biggest holding. Physicians Financial Services Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,027,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after purchasing an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 279.7% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after acquiring an additional 891,842 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 3.0 %

Oracle stock opened at $176.01 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $169.10 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a market capitalization of $492.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 43.04, a PEG ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.91%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.