Northwest Wealth Management LLC Acquires 109 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Northwest Wealth Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 2,509 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 109 shares during the quarter. Northwest Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $418,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 201.7% in the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after purchasing an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 383.4% in the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 24.8% in the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In related 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL stock opened at $147.41 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $166.14 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $169.34. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last released 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 EPS. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have recently weighed in on ORCL. DA Davidson reaffirmed a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.71.

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.