Natixis Advisors LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Natixis Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.5% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 2,446,526 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,587 shares during the quarter. Oracle makes up approximately 0.8% of Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 18th biggest holding. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $416,888,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the second quarter valued at approximately $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth about $40,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. TD Cowen upped their target price on Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI upped their target price on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, September 9th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $183.71 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $509.07 billion, a PE ratio of 47.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $191.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $172.14 and its 200 day simple moving average is $146.60.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Oracle 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.