FORA Capital LLC Purchases New Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

FORA Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 20,365 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $3,394,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. FWL Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the 4th quarter. FWL Investment Management LLC now owns 54,944 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $9,156,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares during the period. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.1% during the 4th quarter. Clark Capital Management Group Inc. now owns 11,614 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,935,000 after buying an additional 663 shares during the last quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Coastal Bridge Advisors LLC now owns 3,511 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $585,000 after purchasing an additional 504 shares during the period. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Oracle by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 6,821,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,136,665,000 after acquiring an additional 585,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimension Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 1.4% in the fourth quarter. Dimension Capital Management LLC now owns 8,483 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,414,000 after acquiring an additional 116 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Cantor Fitzgerald dropped their price objective on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup cut their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stephens assumed coverage on Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, DA Davidson decreased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, April 14th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $174.42.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,866 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $149.53, for a total transaction of $428,552.98. Following the sale, the director now owns 31,764 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,749,670.92. The trade was a 8.28 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total transaction of $648,850.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 27,366 shares of company stock worth $4,015,723. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $150.38 on Friday. 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 $420.59 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.27. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $114.55 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $142.26 and a 200-day moving average price of $163.20.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th were issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.33%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 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.