8,306 Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Acquired by Callahan Advisors LLC

Callahan Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 8,306 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,384,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Davidson Investment Advisors increased its stake in Oracle by 12.2% during the 4th quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors now owns 1,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $304,000 after purchasing an additional 199 shares in the last quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund increased its stake in Oracle by 162.6% during the 4th quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund now owns 124,272 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $20,709,000 after purchasing an additional 76,948 shares in the last quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 344.1% during the 4th quarter. Creative Capital Management Investments LLC now owns 755 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $126,000 after purchasing an additional 585 shares in the last quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors increased its stake in Oracle by 4.3% during the 4th quarter. C2P Capital Advisory Group LLC d.b.a. Prosperity Capital Advisors now owns 4,689 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $781,000 after purchasing an additional 193 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Buckingham Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Oracle by 19.0% during the 4th quarter. Buckingham Capital Management Inc. now owns 18,053 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,008,000 after purchasing an additional 2,880 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $168.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $166.24. The company has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates 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%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

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.