Mariner LLC Has $178.79 Million Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Mariner LLC lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.9% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,072,872 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 59,383 shares during the quarter. Mariner LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $178,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in 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 acquiring an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 34,630 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. The trade was 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 worth $453,791,001 in the last three months. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research firms have recently commented on ORCL. UBS Group reissued a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, March 12th. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, April 3rd. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $178.65.

Oracle Trading Down 0.8 %

NYSE ORCL opened at $132.27 on Monday. 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 has a 50 day simple moving average of $155.25 and a 200 day simple moving average of $167.63. The stock has a market capitalization of $369.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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 1.51%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 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.