D. Scott Neal Inc. Acquires New Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

D. Scott Neal Inc. bought a new position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 1,200 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $204,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Alaska Permanent Fund Corp purchased a new position in Oracle in the first quarter worth $36,000. Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.5% in the 1st quarter. Park Avenue Securities LLC now owns 22,071 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,772,000 after purchasing an additional 548 shares in the last quarter. RFG Advisory LLC lifted its position in Oracle by 11.7% in the 1st quarter. RFG Advisory LLC now owns 17,999 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,261,000 after buying an additional 1,884 shares during the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA grew its position in Oracle by 14.2% during the first quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. MA now owns 107,487 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $13,501,000 after acquiring an additional 13,329 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in Oracle by 5.6% during the first quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 12,620 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,584,000 after acquiring an additional 673 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of Oracle stock opened at $174.72 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $484.16 billion, a PE ratio of 45.03, a PEG ratio of 3.25 and a beta of 1.01. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $156.29 and a 200 day moving average of $138.49. The company has a current ratio of 0.72, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $178.61.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. Oracle had a net margin of 20.40% and a return on equity of 171.38%. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, October 24th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 41.24%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. JMP Securities lifted their price objective on Oracle from $175.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market outperform” rating in a report on Friday. Citigroup increased their target price on Oracle from $140.00 to $157.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Oppenheimer reaffirmed a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Finally, Sanford C. Bernstein lifted their target price on shares of Oracle from $201.00 to $202.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, September 30th. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Oracle has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $168.67.

Insider Activity

In related news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.