Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Holdings Increased by West Family Investments Inc.

West Family Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 5,678 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,224 shares during the period. West Family Investments Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $968,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in ORCL. Fairway Wealth LLC acquired a new stake in Oracle in the 2nd quarter worth $27,000. POM Investment Strategies LLC acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 2nd quarter valued at $30,000. Bbjs Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the second quarter worth $35,000. Reston Wealth Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $44,000. Finally, Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in Oracle during the second quarter worth $40,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently issued reports on ORCL shares. Guggenheim raised their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Barclays lifted their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $172.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. UBS Group reiterated a “market outperform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, October 18th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Monday, September 30th. Eleven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $169.52.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $184.00 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $173.06 and a two-hundred day moving average of $147.56. The stock has a market cap of $509.88 billion, a PE ratio of 47.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 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.

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

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.87%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

About Oracle

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.