Spreng Capital Management Inc. Purchases New Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Spreng Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 1,375 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. The trade was a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Oracle stock opened at $124.32 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $347.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 30.40, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $157.88 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.47. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.61%. 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. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price objective on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

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.