Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 19,034 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 308 shares during the quarter. Bay Colony Advisory Group Inc d b a Bay Colony Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $3,172,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% during 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 buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders boosted its stake in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth about $1,800,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $150.69 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 has a market cap of $421.48 billion, a PE ratio of 36.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $167.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $168.97. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $111.18 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.06%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reaffirmed a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Mizuho increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently 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.