Greenwood Capital Associates LLC Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Greenwood Capital Associates LLC raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 45,504 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 5,090 shares during the quarter. Greenwood Capital Associates LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,583,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during 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 shares of Oracle during the third quarter valued at $44,000. Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Finally, Avondale Wealth Management purchased a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at about $51,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. KeyCorp increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. JMP Securities reissued a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Up 0.3 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $169.16 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $473.13 billion, a PE ratio of 41.32, a P/E/G ratio of 3.35 and a beta of 1.05. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $171.89 and its 200-day simple moving average is $163.58. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.