Signaturefd LLC Increases Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,145 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 158 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,356,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.6% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 11.6% during the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after purchasing an additional 97,635 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.4% in the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Oracle Price Performance

ORCL opened at $149.36 on Monday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a 50 day moving average of $165.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $169.85. The company has a market cap of $417.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.52, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The business 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 of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.34%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, January 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently commented on ORCL shares. StockNews.com cut shares of Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 19th. BNP Paribas upgraded shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt upgraded Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Twelve 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 stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $179.71.

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.