Peoples Financial Services CORP. Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Peoples Financial Services CORP. grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,995 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 283 shares during the period. Oracle accounts for 1.0% of Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 27th largest position. Peoples Financial Services CORP.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,165,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 11.6% during the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd grew its position in Oracle by 5,853.1% during the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $219,224,000 after acquiring an additional 1,526,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after acquiring an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. Piper Sandler increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada restated a “sector perform” rating and issued a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Mizuho raised their target price on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have issued a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $156.34 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $176.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $161.24. The stock has a market cap of $437.28 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.22, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $105.42 and a 52 week high of $198.31.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued 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). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.34 EPS. On average, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.02%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 39.12%.

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.