Quadrature Capital Ltd Increases Stock Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 172.3% in the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,071 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 102,551 shares during the quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd’s holdings in Oracle were worth $27,615,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 5.3% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares during the period. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. boosted its stake in Oracle by 15.3% during the second quarter. Itau Unibanco Holding S.A. now owns 24,800 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,502,000 after buying an additional 3,300 shares during the period. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $4,160,000. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in Oracle by 79.6% during the third quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after buying an additional 126,985 shares during the period. Finally, Miura Global Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle during the third quarter worth about $1,704,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related 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 value of $1,042,800.00. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 42,889 shares in the company, valued at $7,076,685. This trade represents a 12.84 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Up 2.9 %

ORCL stock opened at $188.19 on Thursday. 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 twelve month low of $99.26 and a twelve month high of $196.04. The company’s 50 day moving average is $178.54 and its two-hundred day moving average is $153.09. The stock has a market cap of $521.49 billion, a P/E ratio of 48.50, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 1.03.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, October 24th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 10th were issued a $0.40 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.85%. Oracle’s payout ratio is 41.24%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have weighed in on ORCL. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $110.00 to $120.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, September 9th. Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $170.00 to $185.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Evercore ISI raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $160.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Royal Bank of Canada assumed coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Wednesday, October 23rd. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $165.00 price objective for the company. Finally, TD Cowen raised their price objective on shares of Oracle from $165.00 to $180.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, September 10th. Eleven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nineteen have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $169.52.

Oracle Company 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.