OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd Buys 6,976 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd grew its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 268.0% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 9,579 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,976 shares during the quarter. OVERSEA CHINESE BANKING Corp Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,601,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 121,874 shares during the period. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. lifted its holdings in Oracle by 201.7% during the fourth quarter. McClarren Financial Advisors Inc. now owns 1,599 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $266,000 after acquiring an additional 1,069 shares during the period. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its holdings in Oracle by 383.4% during the fourth 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 during the period. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 24.8% during the fourth quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Finally, Crews Bank & Trust bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $1,800,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Oracle Trading Up 2.0 %

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $152.40 on Thursday. 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 $165.10 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $169.89. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $112.78 and a 12-month high of $198.31. The firm has a market cap of $426.25 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results 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). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.41 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Shareholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.31%. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s payout ratio is 46.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Monness Crespi & Hardt raised Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup decreased their target price on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 12th. Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 target price on Oracle and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.20.

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.