Korea Investment CORP Grows Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Korea Investment CORP lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,253,272 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 32,160 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up 0.5% of Korea Investment CORP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 28th largest holding. Korea Investment CORP’s holdings in Oracle were worth $208,845,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 12.4% during the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. United Bank raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after acquiring an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 16.8% in the third quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 1,908 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $325,000 after purchasing an additional 274 shares during the period. Finally, Cadence Bank grew its stake in Oracle by 0.8% during the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of several recent research reports. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Piper Sandler decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Barclays cut their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen investment 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 company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Down 4.0 %

ORCL stock opened at $147.71 on Thursday. 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 quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The company has a fifty day moving average of $164.62 and a 200-day moving average of $170.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $413.15 billion, a PE ratio of 36.12, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (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 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 in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders 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. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.