Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC Purchases 18,681 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 11.6% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 180,117 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,681 shares during the quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $30,015,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares during the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $47,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets cut their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price target on Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Guggenheim reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were 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 owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $145.88 on Friday. 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 business’s fifty day moving average price is $164.35 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $170.11. Oracle Co. has a fifty-two week low of $112.78 and a fifty-two week high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $408.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.67, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.37%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is 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.