Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Acquires 832 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.7% during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 31,304 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 832 shares during the period. Bahl & Gaynor Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $4,420,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of ORCL. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Oracle by 153.3% during the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 11,947 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,260,000 after buying an additional 7,230 shares during the last quarter. Brio Consultants LLC increased its position in Oracle by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Brio Consultants LLC now owns 2,942 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $310,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the last quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 4.1% in the fourth quarter. Precision Wealth Strategies LLC now owns 3,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $417,000 after acquiring an additional 155 shares during the period. Gilbert & Cook Inc. purchased a new position in Oracle in the fourth quarter worth about $359,000. Finally, Aveo Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $290,000. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE ORCL opened at $157.13 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 8.25, a current ratio of 0.71 and a quick ratio of 0.72. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $99.26 and a 1-year high of $160.52. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $139.16 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $129.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $433.03 billion, a PE ratio of 42.35, a P/E/G ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 1.01.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 19.76% and a return on equity of 223.01%. The company had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s quarterly revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5.02 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be given a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.02%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is currently 43.13%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Analyst Ratings Changes

ORCL has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. DA Davidson increased their price target on shares of Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Argus boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $145.00 to $159.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 18th. Citigroup raised their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, Guggenheim reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $175.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Tuesday, June 25th. Twelve analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $158.68.

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.