Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. Makes New Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc. bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 37,005 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $6,167,000. Oracle makes up approximately 4.7% of Marvin & Palmer Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 9th biggest holding.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. State Street Corp increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after buying an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.5% in 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 increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, March 3rd. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $155.89 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $111.18 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $436.01 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $167.63 and a 200 day moving average of $169.51. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Oracle

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

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.