BLB&B Advisors LLC Increases Stock Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

BLB&B Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.0% in the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 6,428 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 689 shares during the quarter. BLB&B Advisors LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $908,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Oracle by 153.3% in the fourth quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,260,000 after acquiring an additional 7,230 shares during the last quarter. GUNN & Co INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT INC. bought a new stake in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $3,244,000. Valmark Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in Oracle by 2.9% in the fourth quarter. Valmark Advisers Inc. now owns 3,967 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $418,000 after buying an additional 110 shares during the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $310,000 after buying an additional 117 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Consolidated Planning Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 3.5% during the fourth quarter. Consolidated Planning Corp now owns 6,543 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $690,000 after buying an additional 221 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total value of $161,651,250.00. Following the sale, the chairman now owns 1,145,732,353 shares in the company, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other Oracle news, Chairman Lawrence Joseph Ellison sold 1,125,000 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, July 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $143.69, for a total transaction of $161,651,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chairman now directly owns 1,145,732,353 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $164,630,281,802.57. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 15,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, July 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $137.89, for a total transaction of $2,068,350.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 58,090 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,010,030.10. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,862,500 shares of company stock valued at $266,776,624 in the last quarter. 42.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:ORCL traded down $0.59 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $137.89. 3,020,094 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 8,073,583. The stock has a market cap of $380.01 billion, a PE ratio of 37.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.49 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s fifty day moving average is $138.78 and its two-hundred day moving average is $127.01. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $99.26 and a one year high of $146.59. The company has a current ratio of 0.71, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, June 11th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.63 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.65 by ($0.02). Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $14.29 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.57 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.35 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 3.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, July 25th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 11th were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.16%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 11th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 43.13%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several analyst reports. TD Cowen upped their price objective on Oracle from $145.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Mizuho upped their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Oracle from $120.00 to $135.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, June 12th. Guggenheim reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, June 25th. Finally, Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $165.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, June 17th. Fourteen equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seventeen have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $145.83.

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.