Vident Advisory LLC Buys 1,758 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Vident Advisory LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.8% during the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 32,284 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,758 shares during the quarter. Vident Advisory LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,055,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Sculati Wealth Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.8% in the first quarter. Sculati Wealth Management LLC now owns 29,352 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,687,000 after purchasing an additional 1,088 shares during the last quarter. Sax Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $236,000. Payden & Rygel Investment Group purchased a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $18,438,000. Crewe Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the first quarter worth about $838,000. Finally, Evermay Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 13.1% in the first quarter. Evermay Wealth Management LLC now owns 4,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $575,000 after buying an additional 532 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have commented on ORCL shares. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, June 6th. Morgan Stanley reiterated an “equal weight” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Fourteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $145.83.

Oracle Stock Up 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded up $1.41 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $139.23. 1,550,266 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 8,471,979. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $134.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $122.92. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $146.59. The company has a market cap of $383.70 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.44, a P/E/G ratio of 2.51 and a beta of 1.02.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results 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). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The firm had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.57 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 11th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 11th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.15%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 43.13%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total value of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, July 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $8,010,030.10. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, insider Edward Screven sold 235,918 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, June 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $144.30, for a total transaction of $34,042,967.40. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 2,626,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $379,042,045.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 1,952,500 shares of company stock valued at $277,298,174 over the last 90 days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

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.