Apriem Advisors Raises Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Apriem Advisors boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 2,637 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 102 shares during the period. Apriem Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $439,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $172.37 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $482.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. 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 business’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.08 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.15. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $109.79 and a 12 month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.93%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.