Evanson Asset Management LLC Purchases 209 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Evanson Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.8% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 4,536 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Evanson Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $756,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth about $51,000. Friedenthal Financial acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at about $51,000. Finally, Activest Wealth Management raised its position in shares of Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 56 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Monday, September 30th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $161.05 on Monday. 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 Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $175.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.46.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.