E Fund Management Co. Ltd. Purchases 15,438 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

E Fund Management Co. Ltd. lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 48.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 47,418 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,438 shares during the quarter. E Fund Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,902,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its position in Oracle by 129.0% in the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares during the period. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Trading Down 6.7 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $150.69 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $421.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $167.89 and its 200 day moving average is $168.97. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $111.18 and a 12-month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm 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 1.06%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered shares of Oracle to an “overweight” rating in a report on Monday, February 10th. Mizuho raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. DA Davidson raised their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

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.