Davidson Investment Advisors Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Davidson Investment Advisors increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 199 shares during the period. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $304,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $222,000. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 3.6% in the 3rd quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,917,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the last quarter. Vest Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 127.0% in the 3rd quarter. Vest Financial LLC now owns 26,229 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,469,000 after purchasing an additional 14,675 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Penn Davis Mcfarland Inc. acquired a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $220,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $485.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. 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 50-day simple moving average of $169.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $165.99.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Oracle Company 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.