Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Increases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 626,852 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 14,507 shares during the quarter. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $104,459,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd 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 last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third 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. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in shares of 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 worth $2,489,345,000 after purchasing an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Barclays dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Down 2.3 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $147.41 on Friday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $166.14 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.34. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.