Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT Boosts Stake in Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL)

Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT grew its stake in shares of Oracle Co. (NYSE:ORCL - Free Report) by 2.8% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 259,458 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock after buying an additional 6,973 shares during the period. Bradley Foster & Sargent Inc. CT's holdings in Oracle were worth $43,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Winch Advisory Services LLC grew its position in shares of Oracle by 89.7% during the fourth 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. TFC Financial Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Oracle by 129.0% during the fourth quarter. TFC Financial Management Inc. now owns 213 shares of the enterprise software provider's stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 120 shares in the last quarter. Reston Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in Oracle during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Finally, Synergy Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Oracle in the 4th quarter worth approximately $47,000. 42.44% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Oracle news, CEO Safra Catz sold 345,174 shares of the firm'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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,118,592 shares in the company, valued at $207,565,931.52. This trade represents a 23.58 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 42.20% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Oracle Trading Down 4.6 %

NYSE ORCL traded down $8.08 during trading on Friday, hitting $167.92. The stock had a trading volume of 9,693,812 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,127,484. Oracle Co. has a one year low of $109.66 and a one year high of $198.31. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $169.10 and a 200 day simple moving average of $166.74. The stock has a market capitalization of $469.66 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 41.06, a P/E/G ratio of 3.57 and a beta of 1.05. 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 - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly 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). The business had revenue of $14.06 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $14.12 billion. Oracle had a return on equity of 133.25% and a net margin of 21.16%. Oracle's revenue was up 8.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.34 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Oracle Co. will post 5 earnings per share for the current year.

Oracle Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 9th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, January 23rd were issued a $0.40 dividend. This represents a $1.60 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.95%. The ex-dividend date was Friday, January 10th. Oracle's payout ratio is presently 39.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on ORCL shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Oracle from $155.00 to $175.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Piper Sandler lifted their price target on shares of Oracle from $185.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 10th. Jefferies Financial Group boosted their price target on shares of Oracle from $190.00 to $220.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, December 5th. StockNews.com lowered Oracle from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Citigroup boosted their target price on Oracle from $157.00 to $194.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eleven have given a hold rating, seventeen have issued a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $182.73.

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.