Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 13.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 31,425 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,683 shares during the period. Knights of Columbus Asset Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,237,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Second Line Capital LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after acquiring an additional 58 shares in the last quarter. Cadence Bank lifted its holdings in Oracle by 0.8% in the 3rd quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after buying an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 4.4% in the 4th quarter. Cookson Peirce & Co. Inc. now owns 1,423 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $237,000 after buying an additional 60 shares in the last quarter. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp lifted its holdings in Oracle by 1.1% in the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $908,000 after buying an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have commented on ORCL shares. KeyCorp reiterated an “overweight” rating and issued a $200.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, February 19th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on shares of Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Evercore ISI dropped their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $185.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $179.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $152.83 on Friday. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $164.87 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.85. The stock has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $112.78 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.41 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be issued a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.31%. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

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.