Stephens Inc. AR Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Stephens Inc. AR lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 6.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 74,349 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 4,663 shares during the quarter. Stephens Inc. AR’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,389,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Activest Wealth Management raised its stake in Oracle by 21.9% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares during the period. Second Line Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp grew its stake in Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Citigroup raised their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $174.53 on Monday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $170.42 and a 200-day simple moving average of $164.50. The firm has a market cap of $488.15 billion, a PE ratio of 42.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during 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 company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

About Oracle

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.