Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. Acquires 147,740 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6,613.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 149,974 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 147,740 shares during the quarter. Harel Insurance Investments & Financial Services Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $24,992,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. State Street Corp boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,049,824,000 after purchasing an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 1.5 %

Oracle stock opened at $183.59 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $174.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.22. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have commented on ORCL. Sanford C. Bernstein raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.