Caprock Group LLC Grows Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Caprock Group LLC raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 87,495 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 557 shares during the quarter. Caprock Group LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,580,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter valued at about $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 0.3 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $169.80 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $474.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.51, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $172.34 and its 200-day moving average is $163.08. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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 business 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 company’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 posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. UBS Group boosted their price objective on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson lifted their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s 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 owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.