Colonial River Investments LLC Acquires Shares of 4,600 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Colonial River Investments LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 4,600 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $767,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third 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. State Street Corp boosted its stake 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 valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 279.7% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,210,745 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $201,759,000 after acquiring an additional 891,842 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Finally, Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund lifted its stake in Oracle by 2,899.0% in the third quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 913,700 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $155,694,000 after acquiring an additional 883,233 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Evercore ISI upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, KeyCorp upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

Oracle stock opened at $167.92 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $109.66 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.99 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $167.58. The firm has a market cap of $469.66 billion, a PE ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.