Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Freedom Investment Management Inc.

Freedom Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 10,150 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 427 shares during the quarter. Freedom Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,691,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $2,590,000. XTX Topco Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $215,000. Finally, Westside Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 0.6% during the 3rd quarter. Westside Investment Management Inc. now owns 14,961 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,499,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $176.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $128.56 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $151.82 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $166.61. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This trade represents a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock worth $454,439,851. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate 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.