Selway Asset Management Has $6.46 Million Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Selway Asset Management grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 38,775 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 2.5% of Selway Asset Management’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th largest position. Selway Asset Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,461,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,216,314,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $930,095,000. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the last quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 22.3% in the fourth quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after purchasing an additional 1,955,764 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Franklin Resources Inc. grew its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $145.96 on Thursday. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $162.14 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $169.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.24 billion, a PE ratio of 35.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.37%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by 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.