Aviva PLC Has $166.34 Million Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Aviva PLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 22.6% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 998,176 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 183,941 shares during the period. Aviva PLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $166,336,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of 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 worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares during the period. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $2,590,000. Finally, Quarry LP increased its position in Oracle by 2,273.8% during the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,899 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $324,000 after acquiring an additional 1,819 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the sale, 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock worth $453,791,001. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Westpark Capital initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price target on the stock. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $128.17 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $160.05 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.33. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a PE ratio of 31.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted 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 firm 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%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.