PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd Raises Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 8.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 103,366 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,900 shares during the period. Oracle comprises approximately 5.4% of PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 6th biggest holding. PARUS FINANCE UK Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $17,225,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 89.7% in the fourth quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Synergy Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $34,000. TFC Financial Management Inc. boosted its position in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at $47,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $170.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Barclays reduced their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets cut their price target on shares of Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $179.20.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $140.75 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The stock has a market cap of $393.67 billion, a PE ratio of 34.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $163.94 and a 200-day simple moving average of $170.12.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a dividend of $0.50 per share. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This is a positive change from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 46.95%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.