Summa Corp. Raises Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Summa Corp. lifted its position in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 35.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 2,052 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 535 shares during the quarter. Summa Corp.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $342,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of ORCL. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 5.3% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,416,362 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $411,748,000 after purchasing an additional 121,874 shares in the last quarter. RMR Wealth Builders lifted its stake in Oracle by 383.4% in the 4th quarter. RMR Wealth Builders now owns 7,155 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,192,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Oracle by 24.8% in the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after purchasing an additional 32,718 shares in the last quarter. Chase Investment Counsel Corp purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 3rd quarter worth $4,160,000. Finally, Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 79.6% in the 3rd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 286,460 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $48,813,000 after purchasing an additional 126,985 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $162.22 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $173.36 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $163.03. The company has a quick ratio of 0.81, a current ratio of 0.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65. The company has a market cap of $453.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 39.66, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $106.51 and a 52-week high of $198.31.

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 business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Equities analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5.01 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.99%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Guggenheim boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald began coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price target on the stock. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total transaction of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.