Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Stock Holdings Increased by AFT Forsyth & Company Inc.

AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 32.7% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 6,739 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 1,659 shares during the period. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,123,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its position 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 worth $411,748,000 after buying an additional 121,874 shares during the period. 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 acquiring an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 24.8% during the 4th quarter. Foundations Investment Advisors LLC now owns 164,593 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $27,428,000 after acquiring an additional 32,718 shares during the period. Crews Bank & Trust purchased a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,800,000. Finally, Chase Investment Counsel Corp acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 3rd quarter valued at about $4,160,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $172.30 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $106.51 and a one year high of $198.31. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $170.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $165.24. The stock has a market cap of $481.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.13, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The company had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $14.12 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.93%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle’s payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have issued reports on ORCL. Piper Sandler increased their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reiterated a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 price objective on shares of Oracle in a report on Thursday, December 5th. BNP Paribas raised Oracle to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, BMO Capital Markets increased their price objective on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a “market perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have issued a hold rating, eighteen have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Insider Activity

In other 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.