Independence Bank of Kentucky Boosts Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Independence Bank of Kentucky increased its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 31,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,447 shares during the period. Oracle comprises 0.8% of Independence Bank of Kentucky’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Independence Bank of Kentucky’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,267,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders grew its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after acquiring an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of 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 purchasing an additional 32,718 shares during the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at $4,160,000. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth $1,800,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. BNP Paribas upgraded Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. UBS Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $169.91 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $475.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $171.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $163.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.34 EPS. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the transaction, 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.