Enhancing Capital LLC Purchases New Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Enhancing Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm acquired 11,200 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,866,000. Oracle makes up approximately 1.5% of Enhancing Capital LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 22nd biggest position.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $154.01 on Tuesday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $165.57 and its 200 day moving average is $169.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $430.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.30%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $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 is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company 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.