CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp Increases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp raised its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 23,142 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 368 shares during the quarter. CHURCHILL MANAGEMENT Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,856,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $40,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. Friedenthal Financial purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management boosted its holdings in Oracle by 21.9% in the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have commented on the stock. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $158.35 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $105.42 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $442.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company’s 50 day moving average is $176.99 and its 200 day moving average is $161.24.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued 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 1.01%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

About Oracle

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.