Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC Buys 185 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.7% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 11,124 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 185 shares during the quarter. Woodmont Investment Counsel LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,854,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the stock. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% in the 4th quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $266,000 after buying an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders increased its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,192,000 after buying an additional 5,675 shares during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $27,428,000 after buying an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on ORCL shares. Stephens started coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 19th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $167.00 target price on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Piper Sandler reduced their target price on shares of Oracle from $210.00 to $190.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.20.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $152.83 on Monday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $164.87 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.27. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $427.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.37, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 46.95%.

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.