Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the second quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 113,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 446 shares during the quarter. Mesirow Financial Investment Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,026,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 54.6% during the second quarter. Sierra Summit Advisors LLC now owns 3,286 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $464,000 after acquiring an additional 1,161 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after buying an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 7.6% in the 2nd quarter. Wealth Dimensions Group Ltd. now owns 5,079 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $717,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares in the last quarter. Redwood Wealth Management Group LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth $86,000. Finally, Rathbones Group PLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 1.6% in the second quarter. Rathbones Group PLC now owns 35,634 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,032,000 after buying an additional 567 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $162.03 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $139.85 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $130.16. The stock has a market cap of $446.53 billion, a PE ratio of 43.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 1.01. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $173.93.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.12, for a total transaction of $3,220,200.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 210,712 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $30,157,101.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Jeffrey Berg sold 22,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was 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 approximately $30,157,101.44. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. 42.80% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Citigroup boosted their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Argus lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 18th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $161.13.

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.