Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Schroder Investment Management Group

Schroder Investment Management Group lifted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 36.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 2,424,680 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 648,441 shares during the quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group owned about 0.09% of Oracle worth $404,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its stake in Oracle by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 6,156,343 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,025,893,000 after purchasing an additional 468,180 shares during the period. American Money Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $449,000. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 8.3% during the fourth quarter. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd now owns 103,366 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $17,225,000 after buying an additional 7,900 shares during the period. Allianz SE bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $19,762,000. Finally, Tucker Asset Management LLC increased its position in Oracle by 99.0% in the 4th quarter. Tucker Asset Management LLC now owns 410 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the company. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $140.75 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $163.94 and its 200-day moving average is $170.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a market capitalization of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.