Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Position Raised by Hilltop Holdings Inc.

Hilltop Holdings Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 471.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 42,323 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 34,914 shares during the quarter. Hilltop Holdings Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,212,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the stock. PineStone Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 131.2% during the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219,450 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after buying an additional 2,052,275 shares during the period. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its position in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $219,224,000 after buying an additional 1,526,500 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 123.7% in the 2nd quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 2,645,920 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,604,000 after acquiring an additional 1,462,978 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 459.5% in the second quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 1,235,859 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $174,503,000 after acquiring an additional 1,014,959 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $185.62 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $177.45 and its 200-day simple moving average is $152.01. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $196.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $514.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 47.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.86%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Barclays boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, UBS Group restated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

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.