Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Boosts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.3% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 8,689 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,042,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 5.7% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 147,273,413 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $15,599,200,000 after purchasing an additional 7,883,515 shares during the period. Capital World Investors boosted its position in Oracle by 22.1% during the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,384,162 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,938,242,000 after purchasing an additional 3,323,334 shares during the period. Parnassus Investments LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the fourth quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the period. Putnam Investments LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 6.0% during the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after purchasing an additional 697,961 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 11,909,069 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,223,775,000 after acquiring an additional 204,546 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $141.20 on Friday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $125.24 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $117.96. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $145.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.71. The firm has a market cap of $389.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 37,221 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.19, for a total transaction of $5,218,011.99. Following the sale, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $368,246,045.16. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Oracle news, insider Edward Screven sold 37,221 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $140.19, for a total transaction of $5,218,011.99. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $368,246,045.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 385,639 shares of company stock worth $53,002,729. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, HSBC raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

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.