Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. Raises Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC. raised its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.2% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 10,640 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 717 shares during the period. Nicholas Hoffman & Company LLC.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,773,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. Wealth Group Ltd. purchased a new position in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $222,000. Creative Planning increased its position in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the third quarter. Creative Planning now owns 774,912 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $132,045,000 after acquiring an additional 30,341 shares during the period. Howard Capital Management Group LLC grew its position in shares of 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 worth $1,366,000 after buying an additional 883 shares during the last quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 3.6% in the third quarter. Stratos Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 11,250 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,917,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 47.1% during the 3rd quarter. Ferguson Wellman Capital Management Inc. now owns 7,094 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,209,000 after buying an additional 2,273 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $173.50 on Monday. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $169.33 and its 200-day simple moving average is $165.80. 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 company has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a PE ratio of 42.42, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) 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 company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.34 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given 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 is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.