Vertex Planning Partners LLC Takes Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Vertex Planning Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund acquired 3,184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $531,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $1,800,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $145.88 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $408.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.35 and a 200-day moving average price of $170.11. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Bank of America reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stephens began coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate 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.