Retirement Systems of Alabama Grows Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 835,464 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,538 shares during the quarter. Oracle accounts for about 0.5% of Retirement Systems of Alabama’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Retirement Systems of Alabama’s holdings in Oracle were worth $139,222,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % 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.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” 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 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Guggenheim increased their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on Oracle in a research report on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Citigroup increased their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong 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 $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL stock opened at $167.98 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $469.83 billion, a PE ratio of 41.07, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $171.50 and a 200-day moving average of $163.79. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $106.51 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.