Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Raised by Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.

Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 1,309,207 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 92,132 shares during the period. Oracle comprises about 0.7% of Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Nomura Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $218,166,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during 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 buying an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC grew its position in 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 buying an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. BMO Capital Markets reduced their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Evercore ISI cut their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $145.88 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.67, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $164.35 and a 200 day moving average price of $170.11.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. Analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.37%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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. The trade was 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 this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle 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.