Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 4.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 81,382 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,166 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Oracle were worth $8,580,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Orion Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $25,000. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE raised its position in shares of Oracle by 298.4% in the 3rd quarter. Ritter Daniher Financial Advisory LLC DE now owns 243 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 182 shares during the period. Spartan Planning & Wealth Management acquired a new stake in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $27,000. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 1,268.0% during the third quarter. Cornerstone Planning Group LLC now owns 342 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $36,000 after buying an additional 317 shares in the last quarter. Finally, BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 139.4% in the fourth quarter. BOK Financial Private Wealth Inc. now owns 371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $39,000 after buying an additional 216 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director George H. Conrades sold 25,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $116.13, for a total value of $2,903,250.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 17,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $2,071,294.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 835,000 shares of company stock valued at $105,189,850 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Argus upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. William Blair raised Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 12th. HSBC raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 13th. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 1st. Finally, Oppenheimer assumed coverage on Oracle in a report on Thursday, April 18th. They set a “market perform” rating for the company. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fourteen have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.76.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL traded up $2.54 on Monday, reaching $118.34. The company had a trading volume of 5,301,334 shares, compared to its average volume of 8,261,409. The company’s fifty day moving average is $120.06 and its 200 day moving average is $113.46. The stock has a market cap of $325.26 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.22, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $96.10 and a fifty-two week high of $132.77. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a return on equity of 336.11% and a net margin of 20.27%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.29 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.96 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.35%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, April 9th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 42.22%.

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.