Avestar Capital LLC Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Avestar Capital LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 10,570 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 504 shares during the quarter. Avestar Capital LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,801,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter worth $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter valued at $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. purchased a new position in Oracle in the first quarter valued at $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

ORCL opened at $188.69 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $522.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.48, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $99.26 and a 52 week high of $196.04. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.98 and its two-hundred day moving average is $150.14. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm 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 business earned $0.95 EPS. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid 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 (DPR) is currently 41.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI increased their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.