Root Financial Partners LLC Increases Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Root Financial Partners LLC increased its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 79.3% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 5,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,468 shares during the quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $930,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during 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. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the third quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $174.08 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.29. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $486.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share 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 firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets raised their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup raised their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle 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.