Bellwether Advisors LLC Increases Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Bellwether Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.9% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 84,043 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,564 shares during the period. Oracle makes up approximately 2.7% of Bellwether Advisors LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Bellwether Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $14,321,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Capital World Investors raised its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the 1st quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after purchasing an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc lifted its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the 2nd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its stake in Oracle by 148.8% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,616,855,000 after purchasing an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after purchasing an additional 424,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,015,862,000 after purchasing an additional 66,444 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $190.00 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $526.50 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.69, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a current ratio of 0.72 and a quick ratio of 0.72. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $173.72 and a 200-day simple moving average of $148.08. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $191.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.84%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently commented on ORCL. JMP Securities upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on Oracle in a report on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.