Diversified Enterprises LLC Grows Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Diversified Enterprises LLC grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 15.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 3,662 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the quarter. Diversified Enterprises LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $610,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Evercore ISI cut their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and set a $150.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday. Cantor Fitzgerald cut their target price on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.71.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Up 1.2 %

NYSE:ORCL opened at $149.36 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average is $165.80 and its two-hundred day moving average is $169.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $112.78 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The firm has a market capitalization of $417.76 billion, a PE ratio of 36.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.34%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.