Broadleaf Partners LLC Purchases 36,641 Shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Broadleaf Partners LLC boosted its position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL) by 1,832.1% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 38,641 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock after buying an additional 36,641 shares during the period. Oracle makes up 1.5% of Broadleaf Partners LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 26th biggest holding. Broadleaf Partners LLC’s holdings in Oracle were worth $6,439,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC boosted its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the 4th quarter. Winch Advisory Services LLC now owns 184 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. Hurley Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Synergy Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter valued at about $34,000. Finally, TFC Financial Management Inc. raised its stake in Oracle by 129.0% during the 4th quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 120 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 42.44% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Oracle

In other Oracle news, Director Leon E. Panetta sold 5,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.77, for a total value of $648,850.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 58,090 shares in the company, valued at $7,538,339.30. This represents a 7.93 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at approximately $207,565,931.52. The trade was a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 2,453,328 shares of company stock valued at $454,439,851 in the last 90 days. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have recently commented on ORCL. BMO Capital Markets decreased their price objective on Oracle from $205.00 to $175.00 and set a “market perform” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, March 11th. Cantor Fitzgerald decreased their price target on shares of Oracle from $214.00 to $175.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. Royal Bank of Canada set a $145.00 price objective on shares of Oracle and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 11th. DA Davidson decreased their target price on shares of Oracle from $150.00 to $140.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Monday. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group dropped their price target on shares of Oracle from $220.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 31st. Thirteen research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, sixteen have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, Oracle has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $176.73.

Oracle Stock Performance

NYSE:ORCL opened at $128.56 on Friday. Oracle Co. has a 1 year low of $112.78 and a 1 year high of $198.31. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 5.65, a current ratio of 0.81 and a quick ratio of 0.81. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $151.82 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $166.61. The company has a market capitalization of $359.58 billion, a P/E ratio of 31.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.46 and a beta of 1.22.

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

Oracle Increases Dividend

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

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.