Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Position Boosted by Verity & Verity LLC

Verity & Verity LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 260.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 13,200 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,537 shares during the quarter. Verity & Verity LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,200,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the stock. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Friedenthal Financial bought a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management grew its position in Oracle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. BMO Capital Markets lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim upped their price target on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup raised their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $161.05 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.38, a PEG ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $176.00 and its 200 day simple moving average is $161.21.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

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.