Westfield Capital Management Co. LP Makes New $100.34 Million Investment in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Westfield Capital Management Co. LP acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) in the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 588,842 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock, valued at approximately $100,339,000.

Several other large investors have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 148.8% in 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 buying an additional 7,699,141 shares during the period. PineStone Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 131.2% in the 2nd quarter. PineStone Asset Management Inc. now owns 3,911,201 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $552,262,000 after acquiring an additional 2,219,450 shares in the last quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its position in Oracle by 97.4% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 4,242,647 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $532,920,000 after acquiring an additional 2,093,893 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 16,023.4% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,065,083 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $351,890,000 after acquiring an additional 2,052,275 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Altshuler Shaham Ltd increased its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% in the 2nd quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd now owns 1,552,580 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $219,224,000 after purchasing an additional 1,526,500 shares during the period. 42.44% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other Oracle news, EVP Maria Smith sold 6,320 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $165.00, for a total transaction of $1,042,800.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president now owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. The trade was a 12.84 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. BMO Capital Markets boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $173.00 and gave the company a “market perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, September 10th. Melius raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $210.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Guggenheim lifted their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $200.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Melius Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Evercore ISI raised their price target on Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $192.29 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $99.26 and a 12 month high of $196.04. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 6.68. The company has a market cap of $532.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 49.56, a P/E/G ratio of 3.55 and a beta of 1.02. The business’s 50 day moving average is $175.62 and its two-hundred day moving average is $149.41.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its earnings results on Monday, September 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $13.31 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $13.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. Oracle’s revenue was up 6.9% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.83%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.