Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Position Raised by Salem Investment Counselors Inc.

Salem Investment Counselors Inc. raised its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.4% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 34,199 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 475 shares during the period. Salem Investment Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $5,699,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the third quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $12,003,241,000 after purchasing an additional 1,847,561 shares in the last quarter. Altshuler Shaham Ltd raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 5,853.1% in the second 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 2.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Oracle Stock Down 0.7 %

Oracle stock traded down $1.07 during midday trading on Monday, reaching $153.43. The stock had a trading volume of 4,206,283 shares, compared to its average volume of 7,292,929. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $177.62 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.04. Oracle Co. has a 1-year low of $105.42 and a 1-year high of $198.31. The stock has a market capitalization of $429.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 37.51, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.72 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. As a group, analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.03 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.04%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently commented on ORCL. Melius Research upgraded Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, September 16th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt lowered Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Citigroup increased their price objective on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $181.48.

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.