Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. Purchases 2,408 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Stratos Wealth Partners LTD. lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 104,321 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Stratos Wealth Partners LTD.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,384,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its position in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $1,800,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter worth $4,160,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have weighed in on the company. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Monness Crespi & Hardt downgraded shares of Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Citigroup upped their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Oracle stock opened at $167.98 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $171.50 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.79. The firm has a market capitalization of $469.83 billion, a PE ratio of 41.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts forecast 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, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.