Arizona State Retirement System Purchases 8,204 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Arizona State Retirement System increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 482,818 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 8,204 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 0.5% of Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Oracle were worth $80,457,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after buying an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its holdings in Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after acquiring an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 3.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $157.24 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $110.36 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $168.50 and its 200 day moving average price is $169.15. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market cap of $439.78 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.02%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

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 shares were 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 position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group upped their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research report on Monday, February 10th. Twelve investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.