Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Holdings Lifted by Cibc World Markets Corp

Cibc World Markets Corp lifted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 52.3% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 335,375 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 115,111 shares during the quarter. Cibc World Markets Corp’s holdings in Oracle were worth $55,887,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Oracle in the fourth quarter valued at $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle during the fourth quarter valued at $47,000. 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 a number of research reports. Barclays decreased their price objective on Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets dropped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. KeyCorp reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $200.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $149.36 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $165.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $169.85. The company has a market cap of $417.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.52, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s revenue was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.41 EPS. Research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.34%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.