Metis Global Partners LLC Purchases 2,258 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Metis Global Partners LLC grew its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 97,987 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,258 shares during the quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $16,329,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Providence First Trust Co raised its position in shares of Oracle by 612.2% in the fourth quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 10,840 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after purchasing an additional 9,318 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE increased its position in Oracle by 1.2% during the fourth quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 1,570,294 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $261,674,000 after acquiring an additional 17,959 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC increased its position in Oracle by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,998,798,000 after acquiring an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Conservest Capital Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $254,000. Finally, Maple Capital Management Inc. increased its position in Oracle by 13.7% during the fourth quarter. Maple Capital Management Inc. now owns 5,108 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $851,000 after acquiring an additional 615 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $166.09 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $168.93 and its 200 day simple moving average is $168.36. The company has a market cap of $464.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $110.36 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.96%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. KeyCorp boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, November 15th. Guggenheim lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Evercore ISI lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The stock was 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 directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Company 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.