BNP Paribas Buys 12,894 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

BNP Paribas lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 45.1% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 41,467 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 12,894 shares during the period. BNP Paribas’ holdings in Oracle were worth $7,066,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Fairway Wealth LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the second quarter valued at about $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Koesten Hirschmann & Crabtree INC. acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $40,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of several research reports. UBS Group reissued a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research report on Friday, October 18th. JMP Securities increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday, October 18th. TD Cowen boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Oracle from $125.00 to $145.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Oracle Trading Up 1.3 %

ORCL opened at $190.36 on Wednesday. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $196.04. The stock has a market capitalization of $527.49 billion, a PE ratio of 49.06, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.02. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $176.44 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $150.66.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.84%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 41.24%.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,076,685. This represents a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.