Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC

Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 211,889 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,527 shares during the period. Sequoia Financial Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $35,309,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the period. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the 3rd quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,295,000 after acquiring an additional 53,128 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings 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 purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 4.8% during the 3rd quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after buying an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 7.5% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,767 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,835,000 after acquiring an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of several research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays dropped their price target on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.92.

Oracle Trading Down 3.0 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $144.29 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $403.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.28, a price-to-earnings-growth 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. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $166.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $169.62.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.41 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.39%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents 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 at this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.