Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA Purchases 650 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.2% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 56,449 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 2.5% of Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest holding. Mitchell Sinkler & Starr PA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,407,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of 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 last quarter. 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 14.4% in the third quarter. Financial Counselors Inc. now owns 30,534 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,203,000 after purchasing an additional 3,843 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 178.2% during the 3rd quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 230,687 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,309,000 after purchasing an additional 147,767 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup cut their price objective on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stephens began coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price for the company. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’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 value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 3.5 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $140.75 on Friday. 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 Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 34.41, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business’s fifty day moving average is $163.94 and its 200-day moving average is $170.12.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.