Utah Retirement Systems Acquires 700 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Utah Retirement Systems boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 260,641 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.5% of Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Utah Retirement Systems’ holdings in Oracle were worth $43,433,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Stephens assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective for the company. Westpark Capital assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, April 1st. They set a “buy” rating and a $195.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Fourteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.42.

Oracle Trading Up 0.4 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $140.75 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $145.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $164.44. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $113.65 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.42%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.