Empirical Finance LLC Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empirical Finance LLC grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.0% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 45,093 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,742 shares during the period. Empirical Finance LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,684,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares in the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Oracle by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. 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. Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Piper Sandler raised their price target on Oracle from $150.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. StockNews.com raised Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $185.40 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The firm has a market cap of $513.75 billion, a PE ratio of 48.22, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $191.77. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $170.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $145.85.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 41.24%.

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.