Zullo Investment Group Inc. Purchases 72 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Zullo Investment Group Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 3.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,198 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the quarter. Zullo Investment Group Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $366,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the business. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Oracle by 129.0% in the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Oracle during the 3rd quarter worth $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have recently issued reports on ORCL. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. KeyCorp increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. DA Davidson upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Mizuho lifted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets upped their target price on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $181.51 on Thursday. The company has a market capitalization of $507.68 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 44.38, a PEG ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $106.51 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $169.09 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.67.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.88%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 39.12%.

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.