Argentarii LLC Takes $588,000 Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Argentarii LLC bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 3,526 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $588,000.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of 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 period. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $155.89 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $436.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $111.18 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $167.63 and a 200-day moving average of $169.30. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’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 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.03%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald cut shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, February 10th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.