Private Advisor Group LLC Acquires 7,679 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Private Advisor Group LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 124,806 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares during the quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $20,798,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $181.51 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a market cap of $507.68 billion, a PE ratio of 44.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.43 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $169.09 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.67.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.88%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, 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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.