Heritage Trust Co Purchases New Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Heritage Trust Co purchased a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 77,148 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $12,856,000. Oracle comprises about 1.5% of Heritage Trust Co’s portfolio, making the stock its 13th largest position.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Requisite Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after acquiring an additional 60 shares during the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 4.4% in the fourth quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $237,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp increased its position in Oracle by 1.1% in the fourth quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares during the last quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 1.8% during the fourth quarter. Warther Private Wealth LLC now owns 3,621 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $603,000 after purchasing an additional 63 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.9% in the 4th quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $379,000 after buying an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on ORCL. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price objective on 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 cut their target price on Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price target on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total value of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’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 approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $133.24 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year 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 cap of $372.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.58, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $155.96 and its two-hundred day moving average is $167.87.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its 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 net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.50%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 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.