Empowered Funds LLC Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 75,038 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 2,785 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $12,786,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of ORCL. M&G Plc bought a new stake in Oracle in the 1st quarter worth approximately $116,467,000. Mizuho Markets Americas LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the first quarter worth $147,286,000. Councilmark Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the first quarter valued at $3,590,000. Maso Capital Partners Ltd bought a new position in Oracle in the first quarter valued at about $1,972,000. Finally, Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 4.5% in the first quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Planning Services Inc. now owns 10,330 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,298,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on ORCL. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Mizuho upped their price objective on Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Down 1.0 %

Shares of NYSE:ORCL opened at $185.22 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $513.26 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 48.22, a PEG ratio of 3.49 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $191.77. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $170.41 and a 200 day moving average price of $145.85.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.86%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

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.