Davidson Investment Advisors Grows Holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Davidson Investment Advisors grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 12.2% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,824 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 199 shares during the quarter. Davidson Investment Advisors’ holdings in Oracle were worth $304,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Activest Wealth Management grew its stake in Oracle by 21.9% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 312 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 56 shares in the last quarter. Second Line Capital LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% in the third quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 3,816 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $650,000 after purchasing an additional 58 shares during the period. Cadence Bank grew its stake in Oracle by 0.8% in the third quarter. Cadence Bank now owns 7,605 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,296,000 after purchasing an additional 59 shares in the last quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Oracle by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Requisite Capital Management LLC now owns 2,240 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $373,000 after purchasing an additional 60 shares during the period. Finally, McLean Asset Management Corp raised its position in Oracle by 1.1% during the 4th quarter. McLean Asset Management Corp now owns 5,447 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $908,000 after purchasing an additional 61 shares in the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of Oracle stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. The trade was a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Price Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $173.50 on Tuesday. Oracle Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $169.33 and its 200 day moving average price is $165.99. 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 firm has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 42.42, a P/E/G ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings data 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). Oracle had a net margin of 21.16% and a return on equity of 133.25%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.92%. Oracle’s payout ratio is currently 39.12%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on ORCL shares. DA Davidson increased their price target on Oracle from $140.00 to $150.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a “sector perform” rating and set a $165.00 target price on shares of Oracle in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Jefferies Financial Group upped their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Cantor Fitzgerald started coverage on shares of Oracle in a report on Friday, January 17th. They set an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, KeyCorp boosted their price objective on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $200.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, November 15th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle 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.