Buckingham Capital Management Inc. Raises Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Buckingham Capital Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 19.0% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 18,053 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,880 shares during the period. Buckingham Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,008,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 201.7% during the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC raised its stake 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 worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. The business’s 50 day moving average is $169.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $165.99. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. 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 (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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company 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. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, February 11th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Piper Sandler boosted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report 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 issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

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.