AXQ Capital LP Acquires New Shares in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 6,387 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $1,064,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Umpqua Bank boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 20.9% during the fourth quarter. Umpqua Bank now owns 3,109 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $486,000 after purchasing an additional 537 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 19.5% during the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 2,665,576 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $444,194,000 after acquiring an additional 434,458 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle by 22.0% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,895,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $315,920,000 after acquiring an additional 341,475 shares during the last quarter. Plancorp LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 12.5% during the fourth quarter. Plancorp LLC now owns 8,861 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,477,000 after acquiring an additional 987 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vestor Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 45.4% during the fourth quarter. Vestor Capital LLC now owns 130,227 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $21,701,000 after acquiring an additional 40,676 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

ORCL has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Mizuho lifted their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $152.83 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.87 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.85. The stock has a market capitalization of $427.45 billion, a PE ratio of 37.37, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.41 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.31%. 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%.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.