Howe & Rusling Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Howe & Rusling Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 5,034 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 179 shares during the quarter. Howe & Rusling Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $858,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares during the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after buying an additional 7,699,141 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in shares of Oracle by 6.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,033,430,000 after acquiring an additional 424,500 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 0.9% in the 2nd quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,015,862,000 after acquiring an additional 66,444 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $188.90 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $523.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.69, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.72 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $148.08. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $191.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. Guggenheim boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 12th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

About Oracle

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.