Kesler Norman & Wride LLC Has $886,000 Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Kesler Norman & Wride LLC raised its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 49.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,313 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,766 shares during the quarter. Kesler Norman & Wride LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $886,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $142.05 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $162.91 and a 200-day moving average of $170.02. The company has a market cap of $397.32 billion, a PE ratio of 34.73, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $112.78 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.41%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. Mizuho raised their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

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.