Kovack Advisors Inc. Boosts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 13,063 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,123 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,177,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $172.37 on Thursday. The company has a market cap of $482.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.14, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $169.08 and its 200 day moving average is $168.15. 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 $109.79 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.