Safeguard Financial LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Safeguard Financial LLC grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.0% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 2,500 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 207 shares during the quarter. Safeguard Financial LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $417,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth $40,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $156.34 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $105.42 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $437.28 billion, a PE ratio of 38.22, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The business has a 50-day moving average of $176.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $161.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. Piper Sandler upped their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

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.