Lynx Investment Advisory Grows Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Lynx Investment Advisory increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 26.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,387 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 494 shares during the period. Lynx Investment Advisory’s holdings in Oracle were worth $398,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the period. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI cut their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens began coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Bank of America dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $152.83 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $164.87 and its 200 day moving average price is $170.27. The stock has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, 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 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

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.