FourThought Financial Partners LLC Takes $709,000 Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

FourThought Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 4,255 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $709,000.

Several other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. 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. Evercore ISI increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $168.51 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $471.31 billion, a P/E ratio of 41.20, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $109.79 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $168.94 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $168.12. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.