Brio Consultants LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Brio Consultants LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 3,318 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 123 shares during the period. Brio Consultants LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $553,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Independence Bank of Kentucky raised its position in shares of Oracle by 8.4% in the fourth quarter. Independence Bank of Kentucky now owns 31,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,267,000 after acquiring an additional 2,447 shares during the period. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 3.3% in the 4th quarter. SeaBridge Investment Advisors LLC now owns 44,865 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $7,476,000 after purchasing an additional 1,428 shares during the period. Western Financial Corp CA purchased a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,430,000. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. grew its holdings in Oracle by 36.7% in the fourth quarter. China Universal Asset Management Co. Ltd. now owns 32,732 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,454,000 after purchasing an additional 8,784 shares during the period. Finally, Manuka Financial LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter worth approximately $679,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on ORCL. Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BNP Paribas raised shares of Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $169.91 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 stock has a market cap of $475.24 billion, a PE ratio of 41.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.19 and a beta of 1.06. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $171.89 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $163.26. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $106.51 and a 1-year high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results 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 return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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