Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Purchased by Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.

Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 27,122 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 178 shares during the period. Analyst IMS Investment Management Services Ltd.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,859,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Invst LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.7% during the 4th quarter. Invst LLC now owns 3,299 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $380,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.2% during the 4th quarter. Nemes Rush Group LLC now owns 7,334 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $773,000 after purchasing an additional 86 shares in the last quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. Avidian Wealth Solutions LLC now owns 8,516 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $898,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Sovereign Financial Group Inc. now owns 3,244 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $342,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 0.3% during the 4th quarter. Godshalk Welsh Capital Management Inc. now owns 33,435 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,525,000 after purchasing an additional 90 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on ORCL. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 9th. HSBC raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $144.00 to $155.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Argus upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $115.00 to $130.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 13th. Finally, William Blair upgraded shares of Oracle from a “market perform” rating to an “outperform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 12th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and fifteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $130.76.

Insider Activity

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $141,546,631.68. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, Director Michael J. Boskin sold 45,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $117.74, for a total value of $5,298,300.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 87,473 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $10,299,071.02. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 790,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, March 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $99,966,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $141,546,631.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 880,000 shares of company stock worth $110,488,150 over the last ninety days. Insiders own 42.80% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Down 1.0 %

ORCL stock traded down $1.18 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $122.91. 7,173,435 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 6,129,077. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 13.34, a quick ratio of 0.85 and a current ratio of 0.85. The firm has a market cap of $337.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 32.43, a P/E/G ratio of 2.86 and a beta of 1.03. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $121.31 and its 200 day simple moving average is $115.03. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $98.77 and a 1-year high of $132.77.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Monday, March 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.41 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.37 by $0.04. Oracle had a net margin of 20.27% and a return on equity of 336.11%. The company had revenue of $13.28 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $13.29 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.96 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 4.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, April 24th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, April 9th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 42.22%.

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.