Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 30.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 21,386 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,015 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 1.3% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 24th largest position. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,564,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the third quarter worth about $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at approximately $51,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on the stock. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, February 1st. Cantor Fitzgerald assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have 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 $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle 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 value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 1.3 %

ORCL opened at $174.53 on Friday. 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $106.51 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $170.42 and its 200 day moving average is $164.35. The stock has a market cap of $488.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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

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.