Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.

Great Valley Advisor Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 25.1% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 20,026 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 4,013 shares during the period. Great Valley Advisor Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $3,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% during the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,869,816,000 after buying an additional 296,866 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in Oracle by 6.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,033,430,000 after buying an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Ameriprise Financial Inc. lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.9% during the second quarter. Ameriprise Financial Inc. now owns 7,182,917 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,015,862,000 after purchasing an additional 66,444 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 32.3% during the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 6,037,100 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $756,100,000 after purchasing an additional 1,473,734 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Swiss National Bank lifted its position in shares of Oracle by 0.6% during the third quarter. Swiss National Bank now owns 4,913,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $837,226,000 after purchasing an additional 30,700 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now directly 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 filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $192.29 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.72. The stock has a market capitalization of $532.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. The company’s fifty day moving average is $175.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.64. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $99.26 and a 1 year high of $196.04.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced 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 company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.83%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 41.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Citigroup raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Bank of America raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $169.52.

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.