Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by American Century Companies Inc.

American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 22.0% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,895,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 341,475 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. owned 0.07% of Oracle worth $315,920,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Plancorp LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 12.5% in the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 8,861 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares in the last quarter. Vestor Capital LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 45.4% in the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 130,227 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $21,701,000 after acquiring an additional 40,676 shares in the last quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 47.0% in the fourth quarter. Mizuho Securities USA LLC now owns 152,328 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $25,384,000 after acquiring an additional 48,680 shares in the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $309,000. Finally, Sciencast Management LP acquired a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $2,386,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. UBS Group restated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $152.83 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $164.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.85. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.