Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America Buys New Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the third quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 380 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $65,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.3% in the 2nd quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,502,000 after purchasing an additional 3,300 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Buckley Wealth Management LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 63.8% during the third quarter. Buckley Wealth Management LLC now owns 7,370 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,256,000 after acquiring an additional 2,870 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Royal Bank of Canada started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 target price for the company. Guggenheim increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock traded down $7.67 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $182.70. 8,368,797 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,262,293. The company has a market capitalization of $506.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 47.10, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.02. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.80 and its 200-day simple moving average is $150.89. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $196.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.