Sherman Asset Management Inc. Takes $189,000 Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Sherman Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 1,134 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $189,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Onefund LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Onefund LLC now owns 4,329 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $721,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Nixon Peabody Trust Co. now owns 5,539 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $923,000 after buying an additional 131 shares during the last quarter. Prudent Man Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at about $346,000. Metis Global Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.4% in the fourth quarter. Metis Global Partners LLC now owns 97,987 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $16,329,000 after buying an additional 2,258 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Providence First Trust Co raised its holdings in shares of Oracle by 612.2% in the fourth quarter. Providence First Trust Co now owns 10,840 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,806,000 after buying an additional 9,318 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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 sale, the chief executive officer now 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Oracle currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

Oracle Trading Up 0.8 %

Shares of ORCL opened at $166.09 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 firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $168.93 and a 200-day simple moving average of $168.60. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $110.36 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock has a market cap of $464.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 40.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.05.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.96%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

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.