Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC Boosts Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 77.7% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 16,371 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after acquiring an additional 7,157 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 1.0% of Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest position. Stoneridge Investment Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $2,790,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 1.0% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 151,213,890 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $18,993,977,000 after purchasing an additional 1,514,569 shares during the period. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in Oracle by 0.4% in the first quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 18,466,713 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,319,604,000 after buying an additional 82,551 shares during the last quarter. Legal & General Group Plc boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.3% in the second quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 13,242,340 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,869,816,000 after acquiring an additional 296,866 shares during the period. Janus Henderson Group PLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 148.8% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 12,872,300 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,616,855,000 after acquiring an additional 7,699,141 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 6.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 7,318,962 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $1,033,430,000 after acquiring an additional 424,500 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total value of $1,042,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Melius upgraded shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price target on Oracle from $135.00 to $155.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 10th. DA Davidson upped their price objective on Oracle from $105.00 to $140.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, September 9th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group boosted their target price on Oracle from $170.00 to $190.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, September 16th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and twenty have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $168.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL opened at $169.59 on Tuesday. The company has a 50-day moving average of $164.04 and a two-hundred day moving average of $142.62. The stock has a market cap of $469.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 43.71, a PEG ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 1.02. Oracle Co. has a 12-month low of $99.26 and a 12-month high of $178.61. 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 (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.33 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 171.38% and a net margin of 20.40%. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were paid a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.94%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

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.