Capital Investment Counsel Inc Increases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Capital Investment Counsel Inc raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.5% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,616 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,834 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for approximately 0.9% of Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings, making the stock its 20th biggest position. Capital Investment Counsel Inc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,735,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.0% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares in the last quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC grew its position in Oracle by 17.7% during the 4th quarter. Parnassus Investments LLC now owns 14,599,902 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,539,268,000 after purchasing an additional 2,191,342 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its stake in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Putnam Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Putnam Investments LLC now owns 12,339,385 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,300,941,000 after buying an additional 697,961 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total value of $34,042,967.40. Following the sale, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 1,862,500 shares of company stock worth $266,776,624. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 0.9 %

Shares of Oracle stock traded up $1.28 on Tuesday, reaching $139.20. 3,737,884 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,231,971. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $146.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $383.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $138.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $126.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 223.01% and a net margin of 19.76%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.35 earnings per share. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.15%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 43.13%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. KeyCorp raised their target price on Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, June 11th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho raised their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, June 17th. Finally, DA Davidson reiterated a “neutral” rating and issued a $105.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

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.