Avalon Trust Co Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Avalon Trust Co grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 9.7% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,732 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 596 shares during the quarter. Avalon Trust Co’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,122,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 5.3% in 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders raised 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 raised its position in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $1,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $149.36 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $165.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.63. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.