Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by Vicus Capital

Vicus Capital lifted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 64.4% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 3,450 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,352 shares during the quarter. Vicus Capital’s holdings in Oracle were worth $575,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after buying an additional 885,041 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 1.8% during the third quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently commented on ORCL. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 1.1 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $174.08 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $169.94 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $486.89 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

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.