Trillium Asset Management LLC Increases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Trillium Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 8,112 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 82 shares during the quarter. Trillium Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,352,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Enhancing Capital LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,866,000. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 366,358 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $61,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,742 shares during the last quarter. Generali Asset Management SPA SGR purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $12,595,000. Evoke Wealth LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Evoke Wealth LLC now owns 58,254 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $9,707,000 after buying an additional 850 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Horizon Investments LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Horizon Investments LLC now owns 62,879 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $10,452,000 after buying an additional 14,202 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Stephens initiated coverage on Oracle in a research report on Wednesday. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. Bank of America decreased their target price on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Up 2.0 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $152.40 on Thursday. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $165.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $169.89. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-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 stock has a market capitalization of $426.25 billion, a PE ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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 business 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%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS 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 given a $0.50 dividend. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.