West Branch Capital LLC Raises Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

West Branch Capital LLC lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 37,448 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,375 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for about 2.0% of West Branch Capital LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest position. West Branch Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,240,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 7.3 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $172.82 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $174.87 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.70. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. 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 stock has a market cap of $483.37 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 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 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.