Avanza Fonder AB Makes New $20.35 Million Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Avanza Fonder AB purchased a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 122,098 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $20,346,000. Oracle makes up approximately 0.6% of Avanza Fonder AB’s portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. State Street Corp raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on ORCL. UBS Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price target for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, nineteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $162.85 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market capitalization of $455.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.51, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $176.53 and its 200-day moving average price is $161.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.98%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 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.