Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys New Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Resona Asset Management Co. Ltd. purchased a new position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor purchased 488,417 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $81,547,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Howard Capital Management Group LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 12.4% in the 3rd quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,366,000 after acquiring an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. United Bank increased its stake in Oracle by 4.8% in the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares during the last quarter. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth about $2,590,000. Finally, Quarry LP grew its holdings in Oracle by 2,273.8% in the 3rd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,899 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $324,000 after buying an additional 1,819 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This trade represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001 in the last quarter. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 19th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 price objective on the stock. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Piper Sandler dropped their price objective on Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Evercore ISI reduced their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $128.17 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $358.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 31.34, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year high of $198.31. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $160.05 and its 200-day simple moving average is $169.33. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.56%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) 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.