Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) Shares Bought by Griffin Asset Management Inc.

Griffin Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 2.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 56,669 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,287 shares during the quarter. Griffin Asset Management Inc.’s holdings in Oracle were worth $9,443,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. State Street Corp raised its position in Oracle by 2.7% during the third 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. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Oracle by 2.6% during the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,194,683 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $5,977,015,000 after purchasing an additional 885,041 shares during the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its stake in Oracle by 11.6% in the 3rd quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 18,480,384 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,370,640,000 after buying an additional 1,917,416 shares in the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its holdings in Oracle by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,898,029 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $3,049,824,000 after buying an additional 310,709 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Oracle by 0.4% during the third quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 14,608,951 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $2,489,345,000 after buying an additional 54,868 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE ORCL opened at $158.10 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a quick ratio of 0.81 and a current ratio of 0.81. The firm has a market cap of $442.19 billion, a P/E ratio of 38.65, a PEG ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.06. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $174.41 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $162.79. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $106.51 and a 1 year high of $198.31.

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

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were paid a dividend of $0.40 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. This represents a $1.60 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 1.01%. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 39.12%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald initiated coverage on shares of Oracle in a research note on Friday, January 17th. They issued an “overweight” rating and a $214.00 target price for the company. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. StockNews.com downgraded Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group raised their price objective on Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, December 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have assigned a hold rating, seventeen have given a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $182.73.

Insider Transactions at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate 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.