Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stake Boosted by SJS Investment Consulting Inc.

SJS Investment Consulting Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 21.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 1,573 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 278 shares during the period. SJS Investment Consulting Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $262,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the third quarter valued at approximately $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its position in Oracle by 79.6% during the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after acquiring an additional 126,985 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Lord Abbett & CO. LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 84.5% during the 3rd quarter. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC now owns 863,883 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $147,206,000 after purchasing an additional 395,613 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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 two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 1.5 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $183.59 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $513.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.89, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $174.41 and a 200-day moving average of $162.49. 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 (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 the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, equities research 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 was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.87%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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.