Essex Savings Bank Increases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Essex Savings Bank lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.0% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 8,060 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 83 shares during the period. Essex Savings Bank’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,343,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. ERn Financial LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. ERn Financial LLC now owns 13,168 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,194,000 after purchasing an additional 303 shares during the period. BluePath Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. BluePath Capital Management LLC now owns 6,753 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,039,000 after buying an additional 216 shares in the last quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.3% during the 4th quarter. HCR Wealth Advisors now owns 25,080 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $4,179,000 after acquiring an additional 330 shares during the period. Sendero Wealth Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 9.4% during the 4th quarter. Sendero Wealth Management LLC now owns 1,740 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $290,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.7% in the 4th quarter. Armstrong Advisory Group Inc. now owns 11,253 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,875,000 after acquiring an additional 400 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Trading Up 1.3 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $158.35 on Thursday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $105.42 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $176.99 and its two-hundred day moving average is $161.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market cap of $442.90 billion, a PE ratio of 38.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.01%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Mizuho upped their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

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.