Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Acquired by BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC

BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC increased its stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 5.5% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,241 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 117 shares during the period. BlackDiamond Wealth Management LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $373,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of ORCL. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $930,095,000. Polen Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Polen Capital Management LLC now owns 10,723,731 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $1,787,003,000 after acquiring an additional 1,955,764 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,370,640,000 after acquiring an additional 1,917,416 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 2.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 70,441,556 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $12,003,241,000 after acquiring an additional 1,847,561 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Amundi grew its holdings in shares of Oracle by 15.2% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 12,327,164 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,012,943,000 after acquiring an additional 1,623,609 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In related news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, January 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.56, for a total transaction of $64,050,487.44. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 42.20% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have recently weighed in on ORCL shares. Bank of America lowered their price target on Oracle from $195.00 to $175.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Oracle from $175.00 to $150.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. BMO Capital Markets lowered their price target on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. JMP Securities reiterated a “market outperform” rating and set a $205.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a report on Wednesday, January 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reiterated a “market perform” rating on shares of Oracle in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, fifteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $179.71.

Oracle Stock Performance

ORCL opened at $154.01 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $430.76 billion, a PE ratio of 37.66, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.07. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $165.57 and a 200-day moving average of $169.95. Oracle Co. has a 52-week low of $112.78 and a 52-week high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, March 10th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.49 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $14.13 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.40 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business’s revenue was up 6.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.41 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Oracle Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.50 per share. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 annualized dividend and a yield of 1.30%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio is presently 46.95%.

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.