Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. lifted its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 7.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,059 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 3,236 shares during the quarter. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $7,342,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Howard Capital Management Group LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 12.4% during the third quarter. Howard Capital Management Group LLC now owns 8,019 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,366,000 after purchasing an additional 883 shares in the last quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc boosted its position in Oracle by 2.3% during the third quarter. Impax Asset Management Group plc now owns 2,325,268 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $395,295,000 after purchasing an additional 53,128 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 5.3% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. United Bank boosted its position in Oracle by 4.8% during the third quarter. United Bank now owns 11,430 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,948,000 after purchasing an additional 519 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Assetmark Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 7.5% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 10,767 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,835,000 after purchasing an additional 747 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

ORCL has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Citigroup lowered their price target on Oracle from $194.00 to $160.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday. BMO Capital Markets decreased their target price on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. JMP Securities restated a “market outperform” rating and issued a $205.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Guggenheim restated a “buy” rating and issued a $220.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.71.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total value of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Trading Down 2.3 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $147.41 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a twelve month low of $112.78 and a twelve month high of $198.31. The company has a current ratio of 0.81, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $166.14 and a 200-day simple moving average of $169.34. The stock has a market capitalization of $412.30 billion, a PE ratio of 36.04, a PEG ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.49 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The firm had revenue of $14.13 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.40 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $1.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Stockholders of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a boost from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.36%. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 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.