abrdn plc Increases Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

abrdn plc increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 999,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 75,208 shares during the period. abrdn plc’s holdings in Oracle were worth $166,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in 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 buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter worth approximately $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts recently issued reports on the company. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho increased their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI lifted their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $168.60 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $471.57 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.22, a PEG ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $171.89 and a 200-day simple moving average of $163.58.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.34 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.