Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. Has $604,000 Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc. lessened its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.2% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 3,624 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after selling 200 shares during the period. Murphy Middleton Hinkle & Parker Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $604,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Oak Ridge Investments LLC raised its holdings in Oracle by 2,255.7% during the 4th quarter. Oak Ridge Investments LLC now owns 40,754 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $6,791,000 after purchasing an additional 39,024 shares during the last quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. HF Advisory Group LLC now owns 15,104 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,517,000 after buying an additional 386 shares during the period. BNC Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Oracle by 3.2% during the fourth quarter. BNC Wealth Management LLC now owns 30,475 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,078,000 after buying an additional 939 shares during the last quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Oracle by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Sandy Cove Advisors LLC now owns 2,612 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $435,000 after buying an additional 128 shares during the period. Finally, Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC boosted its stake in Oracle by 7.5% in the fourth quarter. Wealth Alliance Advisory Group LLC now owns 18,666 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,306 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $161.05 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 12 month low of $106.51 and a 12 month high of $198.31. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $175.44 and its 200-day simple moving average is $161.34. The firm has a market cap of $450.44 billion, a PE ratio of 39.38, a P/E/G ratio of 3.03 and a beta of 1.06. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.34 earnings per share. Equities research analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

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 0.99%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have commented on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Evercore ISI increased their target price on Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Monness Crespi & Hardt cut Oracle from a “neutral” rating to a “sell” rating and set a $130.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Friday, December 20th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Oracle from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $182.73.

About Oracle

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.