Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Raises Position in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. boosted its holdings in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.8% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 651,308 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after purchasing an additional 17,975 shares during the quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Oracle were worth $110,045,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Life Planning Partners Inc bought a new stake in Oracle during the fourth quarter worth $13,884,000. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Oracle by 15.1% during the fourth quarter. Investment Partners Asset Management Inc. now owns 8,698 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,449,000 after buying an additional 1,143 shares in the last quarter. Avestar Capital LLC boosted its position in Oracle by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Avestar Capital LLC now owns 11,677 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $1,946,000 after purchasing an additional 1,107 shares during the last quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. increased its position in shares of Oracle by 32.7% during the 4th quarter. AFT Forsyth & Company Inc. now owns 6,739 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $1,123,000 after purchasing an additional 1,659 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Howard Bailey Securities LLC increased its position in shares of Oracle by 2.9% during the 4th quarter. Howard Bailey Securities LLC now owns 2,274 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock valued at $379,000 after purchasing an additional 64 shares during the last quarter. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Oracle

In other news, CEO Safra Catz sold 2,101,154 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $185.35, for a total value of $389,448,893.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,118,592 shares of the company's stock, valued at $207,331,027.20. This represents a 65.26 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 42.20% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Guggenheim raised their target price on Oracle from $200.00 to $220.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Thursday, December 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Oracle from $145.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Citigroup increased their price target on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. BMO Capital Markets increased their price target on Oracle from $173.00 to $205.00 and gave the stock a "market perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Oracle from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, ten have assigned a hold rating, eighteen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

Oracle Stock Down 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE ORCL traded down $0.36 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $173.50. 7,255,300 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 12,459,354. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $106.51 and a 52 week high of $198.31. The company has a market cap of $485.27 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 42.42, a PEG ratio of 3.39 and a beta of 1.05. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $169.69 and a 200-day moving average price of $165.35.

Oracle (NYSE:ORCL - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Monday, December 9th. The enterprise software provider reported $1.47 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.48 by ($0.01). Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. The business had revenue of $14.06 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $14.12 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts anticipate that Oracle Co. will post 5 EPS for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Investors of record on Thursday, January 23rd were given a dividend of $0.40 per share. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.92%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 39.12%.

Oracle 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.