Longbow Finance SA Acquires 3,271 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Longbow Finance SA boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.0% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 69,077 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,271 shares during the period. Oracle comprises approximately 1.3% of Longbow Finance SA’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 19th biggest position. Longbow Finance SA’s holdings in Oracle were worth $11,511,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. MorganRosel Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $483,000. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 5.7% during the fourth quarter. Los Angeles Capital Management LLC now owns 915,132 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $152,498,000 after purchasing an additional 49,252 shares during the last quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.7% during the fourth quarter. Todd Asset Management LLC now owns 251,557 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $41,919,000 after purchasing an additional 4,092 shares during the last quarter. FourThought Financial Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $709,000. Finally, Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Twin Peaks Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 1,486 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $248,000 after purchasing an additional 74 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $170.00 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $475.48 billion, a PE ratio of 41.56, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The business has a fifty day moving average of $168.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $167.87. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $109.79 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated 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 completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho raised their price objective 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. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Guggenheim raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.