Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Xponance Inc.

Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.8% in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 366,358 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,742 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 0.6% of Xponance Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd biggest holding. Xponance Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $61,050,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% during the third 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 last quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders increased its position in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Stock Up 3.2 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $154.01 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $430.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $165.57 and a 200-day moving average of $169.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently commented on ORCL. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler lowered their price target on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.71.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.