Independent Advisor Alliance Grows Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Independent Advisor Alliance raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 40.3% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 51,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 14,924 shares during the quarter. Independent Advisor Alliance’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,665,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position 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 acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have commented on the company. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” 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. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, nineteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $148.87 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $167.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $416.38 billion, a PE ratio of 36.40, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $111.18 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

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