Clarkston Capital Partners LLC Has $1.04 Million Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Clarkston Capital Partners LLC boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 6,222 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Clarkston Capital Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $1,037,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Oracle by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 157,411,949 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $26,231,127,000 after acquiring an additional 2,296,069 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Oracle by 1.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 35,814,302 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $5,954,961,000 after purchasing an additional 619,619 shares during the period. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 9.3% in the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 20,202,421 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $3,366,531,000 after purchasing an additional 1,722,037 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC grew its stake in Oracle by 0.5% in the fourth quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 17,995,664 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock valued at $2,998,798,000 after acquiring an additional 97,635 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Oracle during the 4th quarter valued at about $2,216,314,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

ORCL has been the topic of several research reports. Barclays lowered their price objective on shares of Oracle from $212.00 to $202.00 and set an “overweight” rating on the stock in a research report on Tuesday, March 11th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their target price on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 31st. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 19th. DA Davidson reissued a “neutral” rating and issued a $150.00 price target on shares of Oracle in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Finally, Monness Crespi & Hardt raised shares of Oracle from a “sell” rating to a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Thirteen investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Oracle presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $178.65.

Oracle Stock Performance

Shares of ORCL stock opened at $128.17 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $112.78 and a one year 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. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $160.05 and its 200-day moving average price is $169.34. The firm has a market cap of $358.48 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.34, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 23rd. Investors of record on Thursday, April 10th will be given a $0.50 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 10th. This represents a $2.00 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 1.56%. This is an increase from Oracle’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.40. Oracle’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 46.95%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Naomi O. Seligman sold 2,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $145.81, for a total transaction of $291,620.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 34,630 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,049,400.30. This represents a 5.46 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the 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 sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This trade represents a 65.26 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 2,448,328 shares of company stock valued at $453,791,001. Corporate insiders own 42.20% of the company’s stock.

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.