Janus Henderson Group PLC Buys 54,868 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Janus Henderson Group PLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the quarter. Oracle comprises 1.3% of Janus Henderson Group PLC’s portfolio, making the stock its 10th biggest position. Janus Henderson Group PLC owned 0.53% of Oracle worth $2,489,345,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Activest Wealth Management lifted its stake in Oracle by 21.9% during the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares during the period. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Eagle Rock Investment Company LLC now owns 17,626 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,003,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares in the last quarter. W Advisors LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 3.1% during the third quarter. W Advisors LLC now owns 2,158 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $368,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc grew its stake in Oracle by 1.7% in the 3rd quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc now owns 3,957 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $674,000 after buying an additional 65 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, November 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JMP Securities lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Oppenheimer reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $169.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s 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 sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $181.41 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $502.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 46.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.41 and a beta of 1.03. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $196.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $177.45 and a 200 day moving average of $152.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results 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. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.88%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 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.