Huntington National Bank Purchases 58,493 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Huntington National Bank raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 558,070 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 58,493 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank’s holdings in Oracle were worth $92,997,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 49.8% in the 4th quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC now owns 5,313 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $886,000 after purchasing an additional 1,766 shares during the period. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 36,607 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,100,000 after acquiring an additional 510 shares during the period. Potomac Fund Management Inc. ADV purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $290,000. May Hill Capital LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $564,000. Finally, Invenio Wealth Partners LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Invenio Wealth Partners LLC now owns 4,650 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $775,000 after purchasing an additional 115 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on ORCL. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and set a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle 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. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective 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. Finally, Westpark Capital began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 target price for the company. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.6 %

ORCL opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $397.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.73, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $162.91 and a two-hundred day moving average of $170.02.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.41%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.