Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd Buys Shares of 23,776 Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 23,776 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,962,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Down 4.6 %

Oracle stock opened at $167.92 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $109.66 and a fifty-two week 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 market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.06, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $168.99 and a 200-day simple moving average of $167.58.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.