Souders Financial Advisors Grows Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Souders Financial Advisors increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.0% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,348 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 100 shares during the quarter. Souders Financial Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. State Street Corp increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in 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 purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% in 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 purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd 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 during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, DA Davidson boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $161.75 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.31 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.10. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $110.67 and a one year 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 $452.39 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.55, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current 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 issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.