Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC. raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.3% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 8,689 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 438 shares during the period. Astoria Portfolio Advisors LLC.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,042,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Contour Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 41.5% during the 4th quarter. Contour Asset Management LLC now owns 2,192,950 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $231,203,000 after purchasing an additional 643,490 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank lifted its stake in Oracle by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 78,049 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $8,229,000 after acquiring an additional 1,107 shares in the last quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp lifted its stake in Oracle by 12.7% during the 4th quarter. Hancock Whitney Corp now owns 29,301 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,089,000 after acquiring an additional 3,291 shares in the last quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI lifted its stake in Oracle by 3.5% during the 4th quarter. LVM Capital Management Ltd. MI now owns 5,986 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $631,000 after acquiring an additional 200 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heritage Wealth Advisors lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. Heritage Wealth Advisors now owns 16,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,792,000 after acquiring an additional 109 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $141.20 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $389.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.54 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $99.26 and a fifty-two week high of $145.32. The business has a fifty day moving average of $125.24 and a 200-day moving average of $117.96.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.65 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.35 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th will be given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.13%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 43.13%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, insider Edward Screven sold 37,221 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $140.19, for a total value of $5,218,011.99. Following the transaction, the insider now owns 2,626,764 shares in the company, valued at $368,246,045.16. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 87,473 shares in the company, valued at approximately $10,299,071.02. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 385,639 shares of company stock valued at $53,002,729. Company insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Argus increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. HSBC lifted their target price on Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. TD Cowen lifted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, June 6th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $145.83.

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.